Glaciated Heart
by UnimportantDude
Summary: Some time after his fusion and immediate defeat, Kyurem wakes up alone deep in the Giant Chasm with a purpose: becoming whole again. He sets off, determined to achieve this goal, but when an obstacle in the form of a dedicated scientist captures Kyurem, the dragon has to make the best of the situation.
1. Prologue

**Author's note****: So, I wanted to write something about Kyurem one day and came up with this. In case you're wondering, this story takes place while the player character is beating the League. Please point out any mistakes you see, let it be grammatical or history mistakes. I finished White 2 some time ago but since I haven't played it in a while I had to do some research. And English it not my first language.**

* * *

Silence. Silence that was only interrupted by the occasional water drop. It was deep into the mountain, inside a cave where no Pokémon dared to venture, and where temperatures dropped down to inhabitable levels.

And then, in this very cave, he woke up.

Kyurem roared in frustration. He had done it. For a brief moment, he managed to do what he had wanted to do since he came into being. For a moment, he was whole again.

Not completely whole though, but the effect was the same. He felt it. The memories of a previous life coming back to him, and the memories of being loved by someone, of not being alone. Energy, hot energy filling his body, fusing with his frozen self and creating a warm, pleasant feeling.

All of that came from being reunited again, and all thanks to a human.

Oh, how he hated him. For using him. For abusing his powers. For locking him away and sucking out his energy for his own dastardly ends. But he couldn't help being grateful. Even if he was being mind controlled during the fusion, he still felt the memories, the energy. He wasn't in control, but he was happy.

And then came the other human.

He defeated him, his half-whole form, a form with powers beyond most legends. He fainted, splitting up again in the process, losing his newfound memories, and becoming empty, becoming alone. Even if his mind was now free, he was broken again.

He had tasted happiness, only for it to be stripped away from him. Like if it was just a joke, and he had received the short end of the stick, being mocked by the universe, and by Arceus himself.

And now they were gone. The humans. His other half. They were gone, and he was alone in this frozen, dark cave, in this giant chasm, as he had been for many, many years.

But not anymore.

He wasn't going to let this happen. Now he knew how. Now he knew what could make him one again, and who could. The human. Not the one that abused him, but the one that defeated him in battle. He loathed him, and yet, he respected him. He had beaten him, defeated him at the peak of his power, using Pokémon he had trained himself.

He was going to beat him. He was going to find this human, defeat him, and take from him the object that allowed him to transform, the DNA Splicers. He wasn't going to let himself be bested by a mere human mortal.

And if anything tried to stop him, he was going to unleash his wrath upon it, unleash the pain, the loneliness accumulated for centuries. He had stayed here, in this chasm, in this cave, comforted by the silence and calmness, but now that he remembered the feeling of completion, of being whole, even if not entirely whole, he couldn't stand not feeling it again.

He was going to reunite with his other half and become the most powerful being in Unova once again, and he would take down anything that dared stand in his way.

Even if he had to glaciate the whole region, he was going to do it.

* * *

**AN: Yes, that was a short prologue. But I already have Chapter 1 ready, and I promise it's much longer. However, I'll wait until I get some reviews for this to know if this story has any future or if there's some mistakes I have to fix first.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: I'll try to update weekly, for now it'll be every Sunday but that may change in the future. Now that one chapter is up, I hope this gets more reviews. Anyways, I tried to get everyone in character, as now we have to deal with characters other than Kyurem.**

* * *

In the cold of the night, the sound of loud stepping was heard clearly from outside the cave, and the wild Pokémon that lived in the area ran to hiding after hearing the all too familiar noise.

Kyurem slowly walked towards the exit, and only then did he realize that he was hungry. Surely, a small meal before going out the chasm wouldn't hurt.

As he was nearing the exit, he stopped at a small lake inside the cave. He glared at the surface and tried to look at whatever was inside the water. He saw a couple of Basculin and a Seel.

Not being a fan of Basculin's flavor, he shoved his head into the lake and bit at the Seel. The Basculin fled away in panic as the Seel tried to escape Kyurem jaw, but to no avail. The ice dragon pulled his head out of the water and threw the Seel into the air before swallowing it whole.

Still hungry, Kyurem glanced around the cave looking for another prey to fest upon. But it seemed that all the cave's residents had hidden or gone away, for the cave was empty except for him. Not seeing anyone, Kyurem went outside the cavern, out to the crater's forest.

He was greeted by the sight of toppled trees, dead ground, and a mountain of ice erected at the center of the chasm. There was still grass and green trees around the crater, but it paled in comparison with the destroyed landscape.

Kyurem couldn't stand the sight. What it angered him the most was not the memories it brought, of the time locked away under the humans control, his powers abused and his body studied. What angered him the most was the sight of the giant chasm, of his home, demolished into such a state. Where once was calm and serenity, where once stood proud trees and a gorgeous forest, now where remains of a disaster.

It reminded him of something that should not be. The way the crater was so divided in itself, so different from the inside out, reminded Kyurem of something incomplete, something broken. It reminded him of himself.

Kyurem roared in fury as he unleashed his wrath as a deathly cold wind. The ground and walls of the crater soon turned into frozen ice, and what was left of green grass and trees died in the freeze.

Only when the dragon calmed down, when exhaustion finally came to him and forced him to stop the lethal current of ice did he realize what he had done. The chasm was now a frozen winterland, filled to the brim with snow and with walls made of solid ice. Kyurem glanced around the place, not able to believe that he had done this to his own home.

In reality, Kyurem didn't like the cold. Since he has been able to remember he has felt cold, his insides frozen and always bringing down the temperature whenever he went. Never had he experienced the feeling of warmness, the feeling of not freezing from the inside out. But with the past of time, he had come to terms with himself and accepted the fact that the cold, that ice itself, was a part of him he could never run away from.

But after the fusion, after becoming one with another dragon and feeling, no, remembering how warmness was like, he couldn't stand the cold anymore. There had to be a way of bringing his home back to its original state, he thought, and he felt that becoming whole again was the only answer.

Kyurem gave one last glance at the giant chasm before lifting himself up with his frozen, broken wings and flying, albeit with difficulty, away for the crater, away from home, his hunger now forgotten.

* * *

Exhausted for the flight, Kyurem landed on the ground to rest. He panted as he looked around the place where he landed. He had managed to exit the chasm, and now was in a small grassy path leading towards an all too familiar city.

Kyurem recalled his ventures on Lacunosa Town, of the times when he was young and curious, and often entered the town at night to investigate the humans' habitat. He also remembered the time when his curiosity got the best of him as he wondered how humans tasted. Surely eating one couldn't be that bad, right?

But as soon as he bit and swallowed the human, the town erupted in panic. People screamed and ran away toward their homes, while others tried to take down the dragon with their own trained Pokémon or their self-made weapons. He struggled to exit the town as the humans tried to bring him down, and soon he found himself breaking through the angry mob by eating its members, humans and Pokémon alike. Only after he had consumed a handful had they stopped attacking him and retreated. After that day, Kyurem didn't dare to enter the town for a whole month, feeling not fear, but guilt for eating a human in the first place. And when he finally returned to the town, he discovered a giant, stone wall surrounding the village. Even if he could simply fly over it, the message was clear: they didn't want him there.

After that day Kyurem didn't interact with more humans. He grew distant from them, and in a matter of time he grew a numb, unappreciative feeling for the human people, seeing them more like just another living being.

He wondered if the human he was looking for was in the town, and, for the first time in centuries, Kyurem neared Lacunosa Town. Flying over the wall was easy, the dragon landed into one of the streets and looked around the place. There was nobody outside, he noticed, and the town was silent.

If the trainer was in one of these buildings, Kyurem had no way to know. He could try roaring to bring him out, but he didn't want to alert the entire town of his presence. He needed a way to face the trainer and the trainer alone, the trainer that could or couldn't be in this town.

Not having any ideas come to mind, Kyurem did what he always did. Follow his instincts.

In a matter of seconds the town was covered in snow and ice, thanks to a strong and cold wind emanating from the frozen dragon. And with the cold came the mist, and soon Lacunosa was in a habitat more fitting to a town deep in the north mountains.

But it was in this habitat where Kyurem abilities were at his best, for the dragon had lived all his life in sheer cold, and he had adapted perfectly to it. Feeling the town itself through the ice he had created, Kyurem could see everything.

With the mist hiding him from human eyes, Kyurem walked around the town and peered into people's homes. He still remembered the trainer, a young male human with brown, wild hair, wearing a blue jacket and white shorts. But peeking into the homes didn't reveal him anything, just people resting on their beds in deep sleep, for it seemed the trainer was nowhere to be found in the town.

Meanwhile, in the other side of town, a trainer walked out of the Pokémon Center, and instantly snapped upon feeling the sheer cold.

"O-Oh, holy Arc-ceus! What's w-with the co-cold?!" Said the young trainer. The boy tried to walk away, but the frozen ground made him slip and fall down with a thud.

Kyurem felt the impact on the ice and turned towards the source. He walked silently until nearing the trainer which Kyurem tried to identify. It was a young human boy, with black spiky hair and a red jacket. Kyurem frowned and turned away, he wasn't the one.

Kyurem frustration began to manifest itself as temperatures dropping down to even lower than before. The sudden temperature decrease startled the trainer, who quickly scrambled to his feet and pulled out a Poké Ball.

"Go! Unf-fezant!"

The bird screeched with his winds extended as he exited the ball, only to cover itself with them and tremble due to the cold. The young trainer jumped on the Unfezant's back and said "Let's get outta here, Unfezant! This is way too cold."

The Unfezant nodded in understanding and began flapping its wings, trying to lift up despite the fact the cold made it hard to move. Eventually the bird gave up and stayed on the ground, panting heavily.

"Aw, crud." Said the trainer as he jumped off the Unfezant and tried not to lose his balance when landing again on the slippery ice. "Maybe we can stay in the Pokémon Center for the night." He thought out loudly.

But as the Unfezant was regaining its breath, the bird turned around with a serious expression towards the mist. Kyurem, who hadn't pay much attention to the trainer and his Pokémon, didn't realize the bird was looking towards him.

Even if all that could be seen was white fog, Unfezant felt a presence inside the mist. Slowly it began to walk towards the source, originating a confused face from its trainer. "Unfezant?" The boy asked.

But the bird didn't stop. "Unfezant, what's wrong?" He asked a bit louder. Still the bird walked towards the mist.

Kyurem, who was distracted glaring at the town's houses, turned around to find out how dangerously close to him Unfezant was. Startled he instinctively attacked with an Icy Wind, and with that the Unfezant, who naturally was weak to ice, was sent rolling backwards, into its trainer.

The boy felt down as he bird collided with him, and he gave a slight gasp when he realized that his Unfezant had fainted. However, Kyurem's Icy Wind had dissipated some of the mist surrounding him, giving a view to the human of the ice attacker.

"What in the-?" He said as he realized Kyurem's presence. However, there was still enough mist to hide Kyurem itself, so all the boy could see was a dark silhouette, not recognizing who exactly it was. Angered at his partner fainting and now knowing who the offender was, the boy swiftly stood up and returned Unfezant to his Poké Ball, before pulling out a different one. "This is for Unfezant! Go! Emboar!"

The fire Pokémon roared as it appeared over the icy floor, and its mere presence was enough to melt some of the ice covering the ground. His flaming shoulders illuminated the surroundings, and Kyurem began walking backwards, not wanting to be completely discovered.

"Emboar! Use Flamethrower!" Shouted the trainer. The flaming pig nodded and charged up fire from inside his throat.

In desperation, and not wanting to lose more time in this town, Kyurem used his signature attack: Glaciate. Soon a wind even more cold that any blizzard originated from Kyurem, and the Emboar soon found itself being frozen. Not completely frozen, mind you, but enough to make him slow and clumsy.

* * *

He tilted his head.

Rotom cheered at the action and opened its eyes wide.

Getting the message from the plasma Pokémon, he opened his eyes wide.

Rotom smiled again before opening his mouth wide and tilting his head to the left while winking with his right eye.

Not remarking at the strange request, he did as Rotom asked, and imitated the little ghost's expression. Seconds passed as the two stared at each other before Rotom's face became normal again, after which it grumped annoyed.

Colress sighed at another failed attempt and pulled out a cupcake, known as a 'Poké Puff', out of his bag and feed it to Rotom. The Pokémon happily munched it until there were only crumbs left.

After Ghetsis defeat and subsequent disappearance, the remaining Plasma member, leaded by Colress, escaped in the Plasma Frigate, which now was flying through the sky. Not having to follow Ghetsis' orders anymore, Colress instantly set to continue his research using the information he had gathered from a particular trainer. He was going to bring out the power of Pokémon using respect and love.

"Check the meter!" Shouted Colress as he turned around.

The Plasma scientists did as told and inspected the computers, then they turned on a screen in the room where Colress was. The screen, which took up half of the wall, showed three different meters: an 'Enjoyment' meter, a 'Fullness' meter, and an 'Affection' meter.

Colress ignored the two former meters and stared at the Affection meter. "Show me an image of the meter's state one minute ago."

In a matter of seconds another image appeared on screen, the first one shrinking in order to let the second one appear next to it.

Colress inspected both meters before remarking "Marvelous! Rotom's affection has increased! The system known as Pokémon-Amie is working perfectly!"

Rotom floated next to the Plasma leader and looked curiously at the screen. Colress turned to the Pokémon and asked "Now Rotom, let's find out if together we can bring out your power!"

Rotom nodded in understanding, after which Colress reached for a Poké Ball in his bag and sent out a Pokémon from it. A Klinklang materialized in front of the pair with a cry. Colress turned back to Rotom and said "Now's the time Rotom! Show us your true power!"

Rotom screeched in excitement and entered a battle stance, before jumping around the room erratically. The Klinklang ignored the strange behavior and used Shift Gear to increase his speed and attack. Finally Rotom crashed into one of the devices in the room, which was a washing machine. Soon the machine morphed into an orange and blue creature, and Rotom jumped into battle with his new form.

Klinklang waited for the plasma Pokémon to make a move, and in a matter of seconds Rotom fired a Hydro Pump. Klinklang evaded the attack and rushed from the side with a Wild Charge at the possessed washing machine. Not managing to evade the move, Rotom was hit by the electric attack.

Colress spectated the battle with enthusiasm until he sensed a pat on his shoulder. He turned his head to find a Plasma scientist looking at him worriedly. "Sire, you might need to look at this." He said.

"Can't you see I'm conducting an experiment right now?" Colress asked annoyed. "What could be so important?"

"We have detected a critical fall in temperatures in Lacunosa Town, sire." He scientist said while turning to the computers. "Reports show that said temperature drop is worse than any natural-caused one."

Having sparked his curiosity, Colress commanded the two fighting Pokémon to stop and stepped towards the computers. He glared at the digits on the screens and said "I see. Not a natural cause for this, that's for sure." He turned to his fellow scientists and asked "Is this drop similar to anything experienced before?"

One of the men in lab coats checked his clipboard while saying "We don't check natural temperature drops sire, but some of us have noticed the temperature is reaching levels similar to the ones caused by Kyurem while in captivity."

Colress turned back to the computers while smiling and said "Interesting. So the ice dragon has created a cold wave similar to the one caused by us in Opelucid City. What reasons could there be to this?" Before any of the scientists could try answering Colress began walking away and said, "Tell the pilots to land the frigate on the coast nearest to Lacunosa Town."

One of the scientists ran to contact the pilots while another one asked confused "Is there a problem sir?"

"Not at all. In fact, I have a marvelous idea!"

* * *

Even with frozen skin the fire-typed fighter shot the Flamethrower, which broke through the freezing breeze and hit the dragon. Kyurem grunted at the flames, but it only managed to anger him, anger which made the glaciating even stronger.

Soon the one freezing to death wasn't the Emboar, but the trainer, who began to tremble noticeably. Once he realized this, the Emboar retreated to the boy and covered him with warm arms. Realizing the gesture, the human could only mutter a slight gasp.

Kyurem kept glaciating in anger until he noticed that the opposing Pokémon had stopped fighting him to protect his trainer. Without realizing it, Kyurem stopped the freezing wind and simply stood there, mesmerized by the sight.

A sight that made him feel warm inside. Compassion, love between individuals, is that what made him felt warm when he fused with another dragon? For it was that moment when Kyurem wasn't alone, being one with someone else, and it was that moment when Kyurem recovered the memories of feeling love and compassion for someone, of being friends with someone before.

But instead of being remembered of his goal of becoming whole again, Kyurem only wondered how strong love could be, to make you protect someone, instead exposing yourself to danger.

And with those thoughts the temperature stopped its critical drop and rised. While still cold, compared to before it was like a hot day in the beach. The Emboar stopped hugging his trainer once the temperature settled, and along with it raising the mist began to dissipate. The trainer stared at his companion with slight amazement, and after a while said "Thanks... Emboar." The pig grumped happily, and only then when he turned his head, did the trainer recognize the silhouette. "Wait, is that... Kyurem?"

The dragon just stood there, even if he was caught, he didn't fly or run away. He looked at the trainer and the trainer looked back.

"What's happening? Aren't you free of Team Plasma?" The boy asked suspicious.

Kyurem cringed at the mention of the criminal team but didn't attack or roar. Could it be that now he was a symbol of Team Plasma, a signature Pokémon, he though. No, he couldn't let himself be remembered that way.

The trainer slowly began to approach the dragon. Soon they were face to face, the ice beast looking down to the child. "Are you... angry?" The trainer asked. While this took place, Emboar stayed in a battle stance in case Kyurem tried to attack.

But attack he did not. Not having a way to talk to the boy, Kyurem could only stare at him.

"Do you need... help?" He asked curiously.

Kyurem took a step back, growling slightly. How could a mere human think that he could help him? His problems were none of his business. With Kyurem's action the trainer jumped back, his Emboar at his side ready to attack.

But Kyurem didn't have time for battling. Now ignoring the pair, he turned around in order to lift off, but before he could even turn completely he was absorbed in a bright white light.

The trainer gasped confused while wondering what was happening, and once the light disappeared there was a small ball where once was a giant dragon. A Master Ball, to be exact. It shook slightly a few times before standing still.

Recognizing the process of a Pokémon being caught, the trainer, known as Hugh, looked around to see the source of the ball. "What the... Who did this?"

A few seconds later a Golbat descended from the sky and grabbed the Poké Ball, before flying towards the end of the street. Since now the mist was dissipating completely thanks to Kyurem absence, Hugh could see that the sun had started rising, and he saw what was at the end of the street: a Team Plasma Grunt.

The Golbat dropped the Master Ball in the male grunt's hand before he returned him to his Poké Ball, after which he put away the two balls. Only then did the grunt realize an angry trainer followed by an Emboar was rushing at him.

"Team Plasma! I ain't gonna let you get away with this!"

The grunt gave a shriek before running away in panic, away from Lacunosa Town. But Hugh followed him, and soon he found himself in Route 13. Having lost track of the grunt, the trainer hurriedly looked around trying to find him. Searching along with him, Emboar spotted something at the sea, and patted his trainer.

"What is it Emboar?" Hugh said before the fire pig pointed at something. The boy looked at where it was pointing and saw an all too familiar ship at the coast.

"No way! We have to stop them!" Said the trainer before running away towards the frigate, Emboar following close. But once Hugh was nearing the ship it began to lift off into the sky. The trainer tried running faster, hoping to at least be able to get hear the ship, but it was too late. Soon the Plasma Frigate was between the clouds, rushing away from the land.

Hugh stopped at the border of the beach and panted loudly. He tried to think of a way to stop Team Plasma. With his Unfezant fainted, he had no ways to follow the ship, and for once in some time Hugh decided to do something he didn't usually do: look for help.

* * *

**AN: I really don't know what I'm gonna do with Hugh... I make most of the story as I write, after all. Anyways, we're getting to the main plot here, I'll try to make this a long story, but not too long. Hope you enjoyed reading, and review if you please. Constructive ****criticism is appreciated.**


	3. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Alright, here's the next chapter. I tried not to rush things too much but I don't know if I ****succeeded. Oh well, I tried my best.**

**My internet went down during the weekend and only now it came back. It's still Sunday where I live, so I suppose I can say I kept my promise.**

**Now about reviews... I don't like referencing people directly but seeing that as for now only one person is reading this stuff...**

**Dear Guest, I'm really thankful about these thoughtful reviews you're leaving behind. But the Chapter 1 review helped me realize something important. Now, if I understood correctly, you said that you read the part where Kyurem's curiosity got the best of him in his young days as a time when he was whole. Now, that happened after Kyurem's became his frozen self, as Kyurem's first memories as he is now don't include his days as a whole being, which is another reason why he wants to be complete again. Now, maybe I read your review wrong and you actually got that, but I'll have to wait until your next review to decide if I have to return to last chapter and edit it to make it clearer or if I just misunderstood your review.**

**EDIT: fixed some mistakes.**

* * *

Kyurem couldn't feel his body, nor see anything. Is as if he were in a void, an empty, dark void where only his mind existed. He tried to recollect his memories.

A boy. A human trainer with a Emboar. It was the last thing he saw before he was consumed by a white light. Before ending up here. He tried to remember how much time had passed. 20, 30 minutes maybe? He didn't know. But the silence, the calm of this dark void only helped him remember his time in the chasm.

And with that he remembered the feelings, he emotions he felt before embarking on this journey. Anger. Despair. Loneliness. They came back like a water current, depositing themselves into his mind, to their common dwelling grounds.

Soon the warm he had felt at the sight of love, of compassion between a human and a Pokémon were nothing but a memory again. Now the only thing that seemed important of that memory was the fact that the one that received love and care wasn't him.

Just like it always had been.

Anger and hate soon were lively as ever in Kyurem. The need to continue on his quest, of becoming whole again was the only thing he could think about now, and that need only became bigger when he realized he couldn't, for he was trapped here, in this void.

Such great was the wrath of the ice dragon that had he been set free that very moment, the whole region would have surely entered a lethal winter. But the only place that became colder was Kyurem's own mind.

And so, no being able to do anything else, he wondered. Wondered how he could escape this void, this prison, and, most importantly, wondering who could be behind this.

Time passed normally in the void, but to Kyurem each second felt like an eternity. A very silent and lonely eternity.

* * *

Colress smiled at the sight of his Master Ball. Who could have thought that such magnificent machinations, capable of capturing even the most omnipotent of beasts, had been created by humans. But he didn't have time to marvel at the idea. He had tests to do. With that in mind he put away his Master Ball in his coat.

Colress merrily walked through the frigate towards the laboratories, where science prevailed. The labs' doors opened as he stepped in front of them, and closed as soon as he was inside the room. In the labs, Colress felt comforted by the familiar beeping of computers, and he walked without a single worry towards the test chambers.

Soon he reached a particularly large one. The chamber was a box with pale white walls on the inside, and one of the walls had most of it opened and replaced with a glass. Said glass let people from outside see the inside of the test chamber, and vice versa. The glass opened by rising up into the ceiling and Colress grabbed his Master Ball and introduced his arm inside the room. The ball opened and a bright light emitted from it. Once the light disconnected from the ball Colress pulled his arm back and the glass closed.

But the light soon disappeared, and in its place now was a icy dragon, locked inside the chamber.

Kyurem blinked rapidly as his eyes adjusted to the room's lighting. He looked around the room, only seeing white walls. The room was big enough to contain two of him, he noticed. While inspecting the walls he turned around, and discovered the glass and what was at the other side.

Team Plasma's scientists.

Instantly memories of his time under those humans' control came back to him, of the time locked in a test tube with his energy being absorbed, of the time when he was studied and unable to do anything about it.

Without thinking the dragon started an Outrage, and found himself ramming into the glass, trying to break it, trying to kill the humans. But break it did not, and this only made Kyurem angrier. He started ramming the chamber's walls and ceiling, stomping heavily on the ground during the whole ordeal. But at the end he didn't manage anything but a strong headache. Confused, Kyurem stumbled against the glass, letting himself fall and rest.

Colress spectated the whole event, and once it finished the scientist laughed heartily. With gestures he commanded his fellow Plasma members to pass to him a microphone. Once he had the decide, which would let him talk into the test chamber's speaker, in hand he said "Don't bother trying, Kyurem! The walls you see here are made from the toughest iron, and the glass that permits us to watch you struggle would make even the sturdiest diamond jealous!"

But the voice only helped Kyurem get to his feet and start another Outrage. Colress rolled his eyes at the dragon stubbornness and waited for the attack to finish. Sure enough Kyurem was resting on the floor in a matter of seconds, trying to snap out of his confusion.

Now exhausted, Kyurem started to think. But the emotions he felt now were not only anger and fury, he mostly felt despair. He couldn't grasp the fact that he had been captured again in such a short amount of time. He didn't want to return to captivity under these men, return to being a simple power source. Even if this team had managed to reunite him with another half of his, he didn't want to be forced to do it. He wanted to become whole himself, become one and be free to show it. Instead of starting another Outrage, Kyurem simply sat there, defeated.

Rotom, who was playing around the laboratory, noticed the scientists reunited in front of one of the test chambers and decided to investigate. Curious, he rushed pass the men and looked into the room.

He saw a dragon that didn't look like it had the will to live.

Rotom wasn't one to worry much about other people's feelings, but even then the sheer look of defeat in Kyurem's eyes moved him. Worried, he turned to Colress with questioning eyes.

Noticing the confused glare, Colress turned to his Pokémon and asked "What seems to be the problem, Rotom?"

The ghost turned his head to the chamber and then back to his owner. Colress, supposing he received the right message, looked through the glass and inspected the room. "Yes, it's a rather sturdy room. Marvelous, isn't it?"

Rotom rolled his eyes and descended a bit, putting himself level to level with Kyurem's head, which was resting on the glass. The dragon slowly turned to look at the Pokémon, and soon both of them were sharing eye contact.

Rotom playfully tilted his head to the right and smiled, but Kyurem didn't follow. Instead the dragon turned his head away from the glass and closed his eyes.

Having seen the interaction between the two Pokémon, Colress came to a conclusion. He grabbed his microphone again and said. "Now there Kyurem, don't look so sad! You're going to be part of a great experiment!"

The dragon gave a guttural growl but didn't tried to attack.

"But don't worry, this isn't going to be an experiment like last time, oh no."

At this sound of this Kyurem raised his head slightly in curiosity. What were this men up to now?

"For you see Kyurem, my purpose is not to abuse your power, but to bring out your max potential!"

Now he was interested.

Inspired by his own words, Colress raised his hands in the air. "My sole purpose is to bring out the power in every Pokémon, make them exceed their own limits! Which is why I've brought you here today!"

Kyurem turned his head towards the scientist, letting him know he had his attention.

"And only recently have I learned the way to achieve this. With love and respect!" Colress rested his hands on the glass and stared into the test chamber with eager eyes. "Now's the part when you come in. After what we did with you last time, anybody could tell you loathe us."

Kyurem simply glared at the man with cold, distant eyes. In case he didn't get the message he gave a deep growl to express the fact that he, in fact, hated them.

Colress chuckled lightly and continued his rant. "Well, now that is about to change. For the sake of scientific research, I, Colress, will show you love!" He finally said before giving a step back and regaining his composure.

At first Kyurem couldn't say, or even think, anything. Dumbfounded, he tried to piece together whatever just happened. Team Plasma, the ones who had captured him in the past, who had abused him and controlled him, now wanted to show him love? Nonsense. This had to be a trap. A trick to use him again.

But seeing as he was already in their power, what other options did he have?

Maybe this was real. Maybe the scientist, Colress as he called himself, really wanted to bring out his power. But why? What would the man gain with this? And he wanted to do it by 'showing him love'? Clearly the man was insane.

But then again, it if was true, Kyurem could use this to his advantage. Surely during his time being... 'Shown love' he would find a way to escape? No, no, the man was certainly insane, but he seemed to be dedicated to his work, and wouldn't take risks in letting him get away.

And, in the rare case that this man was right, that he could really make him more powerful than now, bring out all his power, then nothing would stand in his way ever again. No mortal human kid would defeat him if he managed to become one with another dragon once again. He would have power greater than ever before, and surely a mere man of science wouldn't be able to contain such power, power enough to let him ditch the human scientist and return to his quest. His quest of becoming whole again.

So Kyurem decided to simply play along with it. It sounded better than being trapped in a test tube, after all.

"Just think about what we could achieve!" Continued Colress, but in a way that seemed he was talking to himself. "We'll be able to determine the exact amount of power in each stage of affection! Ranging from deep hatred to pure love, we'll have perfect digits! And with a power already so massive as yours, telling the difference will be much easier!" He was pacing around the room now, clearly excited about the new possibilities, the new ways he could expand his research.

Kyurem got to his feet and gave a light roar. He didn't want to waste more time, but seeing he didn't have much of a choice, wasting time now would be trying not to join the scientist's cause.

Noting the dragon's eagerness, Colress grinned excitedly and clasped his hands. "We should get started at once! We should-" But before he could finish he gave a lengthy yawn, instinctively opening his mouth wide and covering it with his hand. He continued once he finished the yawn. "...we should commence the tests right away!"

But before he could try anything he was stopped by one of the Plasma scientists, who had grabbed his shoulder. "Sir, maybe you should take a rest. It's six in the morning and you haven't slept at all." The man said worriedly.

But Colress just waved him away. "Nonsense! We shouldn't let something like sleep get in the way of-" Again, he was stopped by another sudden yawn.

The scientist rolled his eyes as he grabbed Colress' shoulders and guided him out of the laboratory. Colress didn't protest and went along with it, accepting the fact that maybe he had to sleep. Just a bit, though.

The scientists followed suit and dispersed, some returning to their computers to continue working and others heading to the sleeping quarters after realizing that they hadn't slept either.

Rotom, who was still leaning on the glass, looked at the dragon one last time and again tilted his head playfully. But this time Kyurem tilted his head too, mostly out of curiosity. At this, Rotom giggled and bolted away from the chamber.

Soon Kyurem was alone in his room. The dragon sat down and rested on the floor, deciding that taking a nap wouldn't hurt much. He tried to sooth himself to sleep, but his mind kept returning to the 'tests' the man had in mind.

He couldn't stop wondering what would happen now, how long these so called experiments would last. Or if they would work at all. Or how are they in the first place.

But then he thought about something he didn't thought before. That for the first time, someone, even if it was for bizarre reasons, even if it was for pure convenience, wanted to show him love.

And it was with that thought that Kyurem finally fell asleep.

* * *

Meanwhile, at Unova northest point, at battle was being held. A Pokémon battle. Not any Pokémon battle though, it was a battle for the title of champion.

Reuniclus rushed through the room at threatening speed, swiftly evading Archeops' attacks. Moving incredibly slow after the effects of Reuniclus' Trick Room, which showed itself by pink walls surrounding the battlefield, the bird Pokémon struggled to land an attack on the psychic-type.

Reuniclus moved out of the way of a Rock Slide, smiling widely. The Multiplying Pokémon grinned as he prepared a Psyshock, creating small purple particles from thin air which struck the rock-typed Pokémon.

The Archeops gave cried in pain at the attack, after which he fainted and fell on the battlefield's floor. The Champion Iris grunted with crossed arms, and pulled a Poké Ball out of her dress. She sighed as his Archeops entered its ball, but soon she sported a brave face. "Maybe you're winning, but now I'll hone my mind and become one with Pokémon!" She grinned as she grabbed a Poké Ball and threw it in the air. "Go! Haxorus!"

The dragon gave a colossal roar as he appeared in the battlefield, with a Focus Sash wrapped around his neck. At the other side of the field Nate examined his opponent. But he didn't return Reuniclus to his ball, and instead told it "Toxic."

The Pokémon nodded and concentrated its mind on its enemy. With it a purple ring appeared under both Pokémon, after which the dragon became badly poisoned. However, instead of attacking Haxorus was consumed by thundering smoke as he pulled off a Dragon Dance.

Seeing this Nate said "Psyshock". Hearing this Reuniclus attacked the dragon again, but it just shrugged off the psychic-type attack. Iris smiled at seeing her dragon's strength and said "Haxorus! Use X-Scissor!" At this Haxorus moved slowly towards the opposing Pokémon. But suddenly, as he prepared his attack, the pink colored walls that surrounded the battlefield visibly shattered as Reuniclus' Trick Room expired.

Unable to move fast enough to evade the attack, Reuniclus cried as it was hit by Haxorus' X-Scissor. After this Reuniclus gave one last squeak before fainting on the ground. Nate frowned as his Pokémon fell and returned it to his Poké Ball.

At the other side of the battlefield Iris' Haxorus roared proudly. Behind it, the current champion giggled in delight. "Well done Haxorus! Now come take this!" Iris held up a Full Restore and the dragon returned to its trainer at seeing this. The Axe Jaw Pokémon merrily drank the potion as Iris patted its head affectionately, after which it came back to full health, the poison effect also gone. "Good job, now go out there and win this fight!"

The dragon nodded before turning back to the opponent, and seeing that Nate was pulling out a different Poké Ball.

The black and yellow ball was thrown in the air and and from it a bright light emerged. Soon a Cobalion was standing at Nate's side of the battlefield, and it gave a light roar upon sighting the enemy.

Iris grinned at the sight and shouted "Haxorus, use Earthquake!".

The dragon did as commanded and stomped heavily on the ground, shaking the earth around the battlefield. At this Cobalion braced itself, but inevitably fell to the ground as it shook under him.

In seconds the earthquake stopped, and the injured legend slowly got to his feet. Nate didn't react to the whole event, and once Cobalion was stable again he said "Metal Burst."

With this the legend gave a cry as his metal body was consumed by light. The shining blinded the enemy Haxorus, which wasn't able to see the incoming attack. Cobalion, his body seemingly made of pure light, launched itself at the dragon at its maximum speed and struck it with great force. With this the damage Haxorus gave Cobalion in his earthquake was returned at him, but even stronger than before.

Haxorus fell back but didn't faint, holding on to its Focus Sash. It struggled to stand up again, and Iris frowned preoccupied at the sight. As Haxorus glared at Cobalion, Nate said "Sacred Sword".

Cobalion grinned and ran towards Haxorus, his horn shining. Seeing this Iris shouted in panic "Earthquake! Use earthquake!".

Haxorus obeyed and once again hit the ground. Cobalion ran through the shaking floor, and jumped in the air aiming for the dragon. It flew over the battlefield and fell on Haxorus, striking it with a Sacred Sword.

The dragon roared in pain and fell down defeated. The legend landed next to the fallen dragon, but, having been hurt by the earthquake, it trembled before falling to the ground and fainting along Haxorus.

Iris only stared at her Pokémon in hopes it would get back to his feet. But such thing didn't happen, and she sighted as she returned Haxorus to his Poké Ball. "Phew... I gave everything I had, but still.. I just couldn't win..."

Nate returned his Pokémon to its ball, having won the battle since he still had Pokémon available. He put away his ball in his bag and walked towards Iris worriedly.

The dragon tamer glared disappointed at the ground, bended down with her hands on her knees. "Aghhhh... I did my best, but we lost..." Once Nate got near her she turned towards him and said "I'm upset I couldn't win! But you know what?" After saying this she stood straight and smiled. "More than that, I'm happy! I mean, come on. By having a serious battle, you and your Pokémon, and me and my Pokémon, we all got to know one another better than before!" She tilted her head curiously. "Don't you think so?"

Nate stared at her, considering the thought. Then he smiled and nodded at her remark.

At this Iris closed her maroon eyes and smiled widely. "Yep, we sure did!" She opened her eyes again and turned around towards her throne. "OK, let's go!"

And while mechanical sounds emerged from the Champion's pantheon, a young trainer riding an Unfezant landed in front of the league entrance.

* * *

After a while the scientist stopped pushing Colress, and instead walked alongside him in the way towards the sleeping quarters. After all, he had to make sure Colress didn't try to return to the laboratories, for even in the verge of exhaustion he seemed more than eager to continue his works of science.

"Something interesting I've noticed is that the longevity resulting of using the method of showing love and respect can vary, but more often than not it leans to longer periods of time, as it depends on numerous psychological factors." Commented Colress to his fellow scientist.

The scientist, whose name was Dudley, simply nodded in response. Colress tried to continue his list of facts, but again a yawn stepped in before his words could get out. At this, Dudley said "As much as I agree that nothing is more important than scientific research, refusing to sleep can only cripple it in the long run."

Colress considered the advice before giving a slight nod. "I agree with you to a degree, for even though sleep can be strictly necessary, reduced hours of it can be recovered in the aftermath." After saying this Colress' eyes lighted with emotion. "But this is the research I've expended more time upon, and finally completing it would be accomplishing my most important goal yet!" He turned to the Plasma member walking alongside him.

Dudley glared at Colress before turning to the path before them. "I know very well the need of finishing a research, for there has been one that I've never been able to complete, and I think you know it very well."

Colress kept staring at his fellow scientist before turning away. "Ah yes, I'm more than aware of the Genesect project! Which is why I made you one of the most high ranked scientists in the association, after me of course."

The two scientists finally reached Colress' bedroom, and Dudley stopped next to the door. "Which is something I'll always be grateful for, but the point now is that if I've managed to live through many years with a incomplete research, you can wait one night with yours."

Colress shifted his hand inside his lab coat before pulling out a card. He slid it in a device next to the door, after which it swiftly opened. He put away the card inside the coat before turning one last time to Dudley. "No worries, I'll manage! As fortunate as it has been to be able to hold a conversation with a fellow scientist, now I must go." It was the last thing he said before entering his room thought the door, which promptly closed after that.

Dudley was left standing in the hallway and, having accomplished his self-imposed mission of escorting their leader to his room, walked back towards the frigate's laboratories.

* * *

Kyurem looked at his surroundings, and everything he could see was a wasteland.

Ice. Everything was covered in ice and snow so deep it was miles over the actual ground. It was hailing too, small snowflakes falling down to the ground. The only living forms around were the ones that were adapted to the cold, and even then there weren't many left.

Kyurem could only stare at the frozen winteland in despair. What happened? Where did all this ice and snow and cold come from?

He didn't even know where he was. There where no such thing as buildings or forest in sight, presumably buried under the snow. Was this place even be Unova? Or was he teleported to the middle of the South Pole?

He walked around the frozen plains in search for someone, for anyone that could be alive in such an environment. But all that could be seen were Beartic and Cryogonal, no sight of non ice-type Pokémon or even a human.

Eventually he gave up looking and simply stood in place, thinking. Such a state of sheer cold could only be managed by something of incredible power. Could it be... That it was his fault?

"Yes."

Kyurem jumped in surprise at the sudden voice, which echoed through the frozen land. He looked around for the source, but just then a blizzard had started. Lost in the storm, all Kyurem could see was a silhouette behind the wind.

"You caused this, Kyurem. You froze the entire region."

Even with the raging blizzard Kyurem could heard the voice perfectly. It wasn't hard telling that it was coming from the silhouette, either. It was a feminine, serene voice. He didn't remember hearing it before, and yet it seemed so familiar...

The ice dragon turned to the figure with questioning eyes. Even if he hadn't tried something like this before, Kyurem knew he wasn't capable of such a thing. As powerful as he was, he couldn't freeze all of Unova on his own.

"Of course you couldn't."

Again Kyurem jumped, surprised the figure could tell was he was thinking. The silhouette moved closed towards him, and Kyurem began to be able to figure out its features. It was tall, with two long wings...

"Only with access to a great power you could have managed this. But this time you were able to do it alone, not by being fused to me."

And then the silhouette was close enough to Kyurem to see Reshiram in all its white glory.

"This time, you weren't being controlled by someone in order to freeze the region. This time, you did it all on your own."

Kyurem gave one step back at the sight of the white dragon. What was going on? Why was Reshiram here? And what did he have to do with this? ...Did he know how this happened?

"Did you really think it would work?" Said Reshiram, but its mouth didn't move, as if it were talking telepathically. "That you could use that human to become stronger and just like that? That you could control that power?"

Kyurem only stared at the fire dragon. Was this true? True that he did this by not being able to control his full strength? Could he really be this strong?

"In your desperate quest you could only think about what you wanted, and didn't consider the consequences that would bring to others. And all for what? To become whole again?"

Kyurem looked at Reshiram with eyes filled with despair. Yes, he wanted to become one again, to feel that warmness and not cold, to remember his very first days. Why was it so much to ask?

"But now you have only brought endless cold and loneliness upon yourself. Loneliness, for now I leave you, Kyurem."

At this Kyurem looked with panic at the white dragon. No, he couldn't let this chance get away! He had found Reshiram, he had found a part of him! And if he fused with him, he could use his newfound fire to eradicate this endless supply of ice and snow, and return everything to normal again!

"...And then what?"

Kyurem calmed down at these words. What did he mean?

"Even if the region weren't frozen, what would you do if you become one again? Feel good with yourself? And then what?"

Kyurem didn't have anything to say. True, he hadn't thought about what he would do after he became whole again... But that would matter if he managed to do it. He could just return to his home and... Do nothing? No, that was what he did not want to repeat. He didn't want to return to the days of living alone in the chasm.

But at the end, that was all he knew.

"Not only that, but everyone's dead, Kyurem. Frozen to death by you." Said Reshiram as he looked at the ice dragon with blue accusing eyes. "If you manage to melt all this ice and snow, to return the region to normal, it wouldn't matter. You'd be all alone, with me. And you know what else? I don't want to spend the rest of my life with the one that killed everyone."

The fire dragon turned around and walked away from Kyurem, again entering the blizzard and becoming a mere silhouette. Kyurem at noticing this followed Reshiram into the storm, but as fast as he ran, it seemed he just couldn't catch up with the dragon.

"All you see around you is a way to show you that your goal is wrong. The one we used to be must not exist anymore. I have changed, Kyurem. And you have too."

Kyurem ignored the words and continued running towards the dragon. But soon Reshiram disappeared into the storm, and the blizzard only got stronger as Kyurem found himself alone again. But said blizzard soon became something that even Kyurem couldn't stand.

And the dragon, paralyzed by the ice, gave one last desperate cry before freezing to death.

* * *

Kyurem woke up instantly in panic, and he quickly got to his feet and looked around him.

He had never been so happy to see that he was trapped inside a test chamber in all his life.

Kyurem breathed heavily and he recollected his thoughts. He just had a nightmare, but what did he dream? What had been so lively seconds ago was now just a blurred memory.

Unable to remember what he had dreamed about, Kyurem sat back down again and tried to return to sleep. But he didn't manage such a thing, and the dragon stayed awake for a few hours before the door of his chamber opened and he was consumed by light again.

And only inside the void of his Poké Ball Kyurem felt calm again.

* * *

**AN: Dunno where that dream segment came from. I suppose it could be a way of foreshadowing but maybe it's too soon for that kinda stuff. Anyway, I think those are all the characters I have to introduce for now.**


	4. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: I don't like how this chapter turned out. ****I was very busy this week, so there's a high chance this was rushed.**

**Hey, remember when I said I didn't need to introduce more characters? Turns out I was wrong. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to feature Kyurem and his thoughts in this chapter. Instead I ended up creating the sideplots that will influence the main one. In other words, this chapter is mostly set up for future events.**

**Beware, the first segment of this chapter is a very long piece of backstory featuring everyone's favorite scientist: Dudley! (aka the dude you fight inside the P2 laboratory)**

* * *

Dudley entered the laboratories through the main door, which closed after him. Walking a straight line towards his computer, he stepped past his fellow scientists. Rotom jumped between the scientists's computers, but the members didn't react much, already being used to the mischievous Pokémon. One of them noticed Dudley's presence and turned around to acknowledge him.

"Welcome back, Mr. Dudley."

The man in white only nodded at this and kept going on his way. Once he reached his seat he pulled his chair back and sat down. Once comfortable he moved his seat closer to the PC and glared at the screen.

He didn't know what to do know. In fact, nobody in the laboratories, no, in the entire ship knew what to do now. Up to that point, they had been working on a goal, and done what their leader, Colress, had instructed them in order to reach it, even if some of them didn't know what they were working for.

At first, when the new Team Plasma formed, the closest thing to a leader they had was the Shadow Triad. They gathered all of those who had not joined the new reformed Team Plasma leaded by Rood, either by for not looking up to N anymore or out of pure interest, and formed a Team of their own. They said that for then they had to wait, wait until the exact moment to strike again.

And it was that way how Unova was free of Team Plasma's acts for two straight years.

And one day, a new person appeared in the team. A male scientist, of blonde hair and strange hairstyle, with a burning passion for science. A man named Colress.

Nobody in the team knew him, nor had seen him before. But the Shadow Triad told them he was their new leader, and so they followed their orders.

In Dudley's case, it was hard to grasp the mere fact of what was happening.

Who was this man and what had he done to deserve the title of leader of Team Plasma? How come this man, that had never anything to do with them, became the one they had to follow?

A mere scientist receiving the title of boss, and nobody even considered him, Dudley?

He had been in this team since it was founded, and he contributed to it the most. He had founded, directed and participated in one of the most important projects in the association, a project that interested even Ghetsis. A project so important that it could only be stopped by N himself, and even then only after he became their new king.

He had joined this team because of one of their principles; not the one that said Pokémon needed to be free from human's control and abuse, but the one that said that only through freedom could Pokémon achieve their true potential. And even if he firmly believed that humans had to be involved in one way or another in order to bring said power out, it seemed like an opportunity he shouldn't let go away.

For bringing out the true potential of Pokémon had always been a goal no Pokémon scientist had never managed to achieve, and a purpose which Dudley himself wanted to fulfill. And when he joined Team Plasma in hopes to do this, he got more than he had hoped for.

Despite their appearance as medieval knights, Team Plasma possessed technology which most humans could only dream having. And the team's leaders had made sure that they possessed the people necessary to control such technology, either from bringing them in or accepting volunteers like Dudley. And it was with said technology that Dudley could finally advance his studies farther that ever before.

But in the end, he doubted that separating Pokémon from humans was the missing key to his project. He knew a more direct and scientific method had to exist. And when he learned that he wasn't the only one between the team's scientists to think so, he decided to start a project to finally achieve his goal. For he had decided that the most easy and exact way to bring out a Pokémon's full potential wasn't what Team Plasma suggested, but something he had suspected since a start: enhancing the Pokémon itself with the most advanced of human technology.

And when he found out about a legendary fossil revived and held in captivity by Team Plasma, he knew just where to start.

At the time, Ghetsis was the team's ruler, before he became a member of the Seven Sages, and long before anyone knew about his true intentions. So when Dudley finally got to have a word with him, he was surprised that Ghetsis didn't hesitate in permitting a Pokémon to be experimented on.

And so they started their project. The fossil Pokémon of unknown name was experimented for what seemed like an eternity, in operations directed by Dudley himself. Such drastic were the alterations made to the subject that even his typing changed to the expected rock to the more modern steel.

Between the alterations Dudley felt the need to create a new move for the fossil. One that would change its type according to the situation at the Pokémon's will. They created four drives, each one containing the data of a different type, and fabricated an opening in the Pokémon's body to tests the drives manually until they found a way to make the change automatically.

Only when they were nearing the end of the project they gave the Pokémon a name. The Pokémon, a bug-type which body and genes had been altered so dramatically, was dubbed Genesect. And once they were finished, he thought, it would be the most powerful Pokémon in existence.

And it was not long after that when N was crowned king. And with his newfound power he discontinued the project and freed Genesect into the wild, much to Dudley's horror. After that, Dudley never had the will to start another project again, as long as his main one remained unfinished. Unlike most of Team Plasma, Dudley already hated N before he betrayed them all, for before that he had betrayed him.

At first he despised Colress once he appeared because of the fact a scientist that had never seemingly contributed to the team beforehand could be ranked higher than him.

But he only really got to hate him once he learned what said goal was: to bring out the full potential of Pokémon.

Back then it felt like a big slap to the face. Like if that man were sent by Arceus itself as a way to mock him. He and Colress were identical in almost every way: dedicated scientists ready to do anything necessary in order to achieve the very same goals. But it seemed Colress had the eagerness Dudley only once had and even more, on top of having the power and resources needed to continue his research without further ado.

Despite being a their boss, Colress preferred to spend the time in the base laboratories, were he commanded fellow scientists to assist him in his goal.

At first Dudley helped out of mere obligation, not wanting to help the one that had pretty much usurped his place. But then he learned more and more about Colress, and how the fact they were so similar wasn't a bad thing, but a legitimately positive one. For a real scientist shouldn't let emotions get in the way of research, and once he put aside his grudge he soon found himself working towards his goal again.

Colress expressed the eagerness for science that had been obvious from day one as the will to do as many tests as necessary as soon as possible. And with that Dudley recovered his love for science and the joy of research.

But even then, he still couldn't conclude why Colress was hired as their new leader.

And then, after the two years of waiting, Team Plasma was in action again, starting a whole new project in order to conquer Unova. All members agreed, for some thought that only through a dictatorship could they free the Pokémon from their trainers, while the rest just marveled at the idea of controlling a region.

Of course, the big project started when they had to capture Kyurem the first time. Most of them feared the very objective of the mission, for the only way they had been able to tame a legend before was thanks to King N, who had betrayed them and disappeared with said legend.

But it was Colress, their leader, who entered the chasm alone with his own Pokémon and later came out with a dragon of ice following him.

It was easy for Dudley to figure out that the reason Colress joined their team was out of pure interest from both bands. It was Colress who had the genius and blueprints to create a machine to control a Pokémon's mind, and it was Team Plasma the one who offered him the technology to do so, on top of furthering his research.

Dudley's opinion didn't change much after this. Even if he now knew the reason behind Colress' appearance, he still had his reasons to be angry. But considering he had decided to ignore such emotions and focus on science, it didn't matter much anymore.

Instead, along Colress and the Plasma scientists, he worked not only to fulfill Plasma plans, but kept working towards their own goals in the meantime. It seemed the reason Colress created a device to mind control Pokémon was in a desire to bring out their true potential this way. But many tests later they had begun to doubt such a thing.

When Colress learned of the Genesect Project, he raised Dudley's rank among their scientists, and Dudley saw a chance to continue his own research, as his ultimate objective was the same as Colress'. But when the leader shared his opinion on Dudley's own tests, any hope died again. For Colress considered enhancing a Pokémon with technology going against the research's very purpose, for he firmly believed the potential of Pokémon lied deep inside each specimen, and adding enhancements could only seal their exterior, trapping said potential inside them.

Even with his hopes crushed, Dudley continued assisting in said research, for there was always another way. And so they kept researching and testing, and for that time Dudley felt happy, at at least the closest to happy he had felt in a long time.

And once Ghetsis revealed himself as the true leader of Team Plasma all along and his intentions of freezing the entirely of Unova, most members kept following him not only out of fear, for all of them knew better than invoking Ghetsis' wrath, but for out of devotion for the one that had returned to them, unlike N who never came back. But in Dudley's case? He saw an opportunity to revive the Genesect Project, for even if he agreed with Colress to a degree, he still wished to complete his research, not only because trying couldn't hurt, but because he didn't want to let behind loose ends.

So when Ghetsis disappeared again, this time along the Shadow Triad, and Colress became their only leader once more, Dudley only fell in despair more than ever.

He didn't even talk to him. Ghetsis only revealed himself at the time they had frozen Opelucid City, and not long after that they landed in the Giant Chasm, where Ghetsis planned to take Kyurem for his own purpose. But it was then when the kid raided the ship, and when Ghetsis went out into the chasm he never came back. An opportunity to continue what he had started that went away as soon as it came.

Not to mention, Ghetsis disappearance have Colress full time to continue his research, not having to follow orders anymore, and along with what he learned from the kid who beat Team Plasma, it seemed Colress would reach the goal that Dudley only dreamed to accomplish.

And it was all of those recent events that had lead to Dudley to not know what to do. At least the grunts had an excuse, for their goal was doing what their leader commanded, but when said leader was a man that spend more time in a laboratory rather than directing their team, all they could do was sit around and wait until something happened.

At least the scientists in the labs had Colress commands to follow, but even then it was just giving small assistance while he performed his tests.

And now Colress had gone to sleep, and leaving no orders behind they were free to do whatever they wanted, at least for the time being.

But Dudley didn't have anything to do, and the total lack of a purpose made his bottled emotion creep out again.

Anger was the first, always on time. Jealously wasn't far behind, either. Despair, never late to the party. Many appeared, but those three were the most prominent.

He still was glaring at the monitor, and he stayed still as he was subjected to the emotional storm. Eventually his attention was caught by a curious buzz from the computer, and when he turned to it he was surprised by a small and red duck-like being floating around inside his screen.

"...Porygon. Now is not the moment..."

Porygon 2 tilted his head worried, and the computer screen began to white out. Used to the event, Dudley didn't react until the screen light faded out and a Pokémon was floating in the air in front of him.

Dudley, who had until this point only mourned about his fate, gave a small smile at the sight of his lifetime long companion. His Porygon 2 may had not fought in any battles yet, but for a man of science for him, it was a perfect assistant.

For it was the specie known as Porygon that interested him in technology in the first place, and even if he was now more interested in the research of living Pokémon, machines and computers had always fascinated him. Only once has he tried to combine those both interest into one, and, as he had thought thousands of times now, the Genesect project just didn't seem to want to be completed.

Dudley petted affectionately his Pokémon, which gave a slight buzz in return. The man stared a his Porygon 2 before sighing and leaning back on his chair. Still incredulous about finding something to do in the meantime, he kept glaring at his Pokémon as it stared back, confused. Eventually Dudley had an idea.

"Tell me Porygon... Do you want to help me run some tests?"

* * *

Even in the middle of the night, Zoroark still fulfilled his duty as guard. It had been tasked with protecting the entrance to its master castle, and it was going to do it regardless of the hour or weather.

However, a man approached it from behind. Zoroark felt a hand on its shoulder and turned around to see his master smile at him.

"You don't need to keep doing this, Zoroark." N Harmonia said sincerely. "I can watch for the rest of the night."

Zoroark gave a light growl along with a frown.

Seeing this N said reassuringly "Don't worry, it's not because I think you're not good enough to keep up with this, in fact, I need you to do me a favor."

Zoroark tilted his head to the right in curiosity.

"I need you to talk to someone for me." N told his Pokémon. "Did I told you about the kid who defeated my father recently?"

Zoroark scratched his chin as he squeezed his eyes. Then he opened them wide and nodded.

"Good. I need you to bring him here, to my castle."

Zoroark considered the idea before growling in doubt.

"I don't have any idea where he is." N admitted as he scratched the back of his head. "But the last time I saw him, he was on his way to the league."

Just then they both heard the sound of fireworks and the sky illuminated with colors at the peak of the mountain. N watched the spectacle in awe before smiling with content. "And I see he succeeded."

Zoroark stared at the lights before turning to his trainer and giving a small cry. N turned turned around to face his Pokemon and said "Yes, you better go ahead before he escapes."

Zoroark grinned before swiftly jumping away towards the top of the mountain, where the Pokémon League was located. N watched after his Pokémon before sighing and walking back into the cave, towards the ruins of his castle.

* * *

After a brief 4 hour sleep, Colress was back up and more energetic than ever. Merrily he walked out of his room, already in his usual attire, and headed towards the laboratories. Greeting everyone he came across, he seemed to be the happiest man in the world.

Eventually he entered the frigate's laboratories. In mere seconds a Pokémon bolted out of a computer and bounced towards the scientist. Colress grinned as Rotom approached him with a smile. "Good to see you as eager as always, Rotom!" He said.

The plasma Pokémon screeched happily and tried to nuzzle Colress, but the man pushed him away before it could do anything.

"Now there, such affection must only be expressed when testing, Rotom!" Said Colress sincerely.

The Pokémon grumped at this and bolted away from the scientist. Colress just cleaned his coat before adjusting his glasses and continuing on his way. However, Rotom followed behind him.

Colress stepped to the computers in order to salute the other scientists. "Greetings, my accomplices in science!" Colress told his fellow men and women in coats. "Would some of you accompany me in the start of my tests?"

Some of the scientists nodded before getting up from their chairs and followed Colress to the test chambers. They reached Kyurem's chamber and Colress looked inside it. He saw the dragon resting on the floor, with his eyes half opened. Colress correctly guessed that the beast was awake and unable to sleep. "I see someone else is excited about starting!" He said with a smirk.

He reached for his Master Ball inside his coat and pressed a button on the wall. The test chamber's window opened, and Colress introduced his arm inside the room, and Kyurem was consumed by light as he was returned to his ball before he could even realize what was happening.

Colress closed the window and put away Kyurem's ball inside his lab coat. He walked towards another test chamber, the one where he had experimented with Rotom and Klinklang hours ago. As he neared it he instructed his partners to ready up the systems. The scientists ware he's for the computers that were connected to the test chamber, but noticed something unusual. "Colress, sire?"

The man in question was walking towards the chamber's entrance as he heard the question. He turned back to the man that called him and said "What's the problem now?"

"The system's are already on, sire." The scientist said as he inspected the computer's screen. "Currently the Pokémon-Amie system is in use."

Colress raised one eyebrow in curiosity and stepped in front of the chamber's door, which opened at the action. Once inside Colress found a man throwing balls of yarn at a Pokémon.

Porygon2 tried its best to return the ball of yarn to their sender with headbutts. Eventually he missed one ball of yarn, and the man throwing them stopped.

"That's three misses!" Said Dudley disappointed. "And in such a short time, the Poké Puffs haven't finished cooking yet!"

Porygon 2 gave a sad look and stared at the floor. However, Dudley patted its head affectionately and petted it .

"Now, don't look so sad! We can keep trying." Said Dudley before leaving Porygon 2 to get a Poké Puff out of a container on a table. As he turned around he noticed Colress on the door. He shook in place as the puff jumped around his hands. "C-Colress, si-ire! I-I was just, eh, w-"

"Ah, Dudley! Good to see you." Colress said as he inspected the scientist. "I can see you've been busy!"

Dudley put the Poké Puff and yarn balls back in their respective container and closed them. Then he reached for a machine on one of the walls of the chamber, and after pressing some buttons the two container faded into data, being nothing more than a solid hologram. He turned back to Colress and said "Well, sire, I-"

"Was working in our research while I was asleep?" Asked Colress before clasping his hands together. "Marvelous! I suppose you wanted to take this opportunity to take results of your own in order to help our project, didn't you?"

Dudley blinked nervously before grinning and saying "Exactly sire! That was what I was aiming for!"

"Then let's check your progress, shall we?" Said Colress before turning to outside the door and telling his fellow scientists "Show the meter!"

Te screen inside the test chamber illuminated and the three bars where displayed onscreen. Colress noticed that the affection meter was filled up to three quarters.

"I see you're doing pretty good!" Said Colress surprised before turning to Porygon 2. "Tell me, when did you capture this Pokémon?"

"For quite some years now, sire." Admitted Dudley as Porygon 2 floated next to him. "I received it when I became a scientist, in fact."

"So despite years of partnership you still haven't maxed out the affection on your Pokémon?" Said Colress as he scratched his chin in curiosity, looking at the screen. "Interesting."

While Colress kept inspecting the screen Dudley got a hold of his Porygon 2 and walked with it out of the test chamber. Grateful about that nothing bad had happened, he neared one of the computers and watched and his Pokémon transcribed itself into the PC.

Inside the room, Colress pulled out the Master Ball and stared at it. Before he could do anything, one of the scientists spectating the test asked "Sire, are your sure about this? It could be dangerous."

"Of course it is." Said Colress nonchalantly. "But the Pokemon-Amie system is like a digital space where it follows its own rules, not unlike a Pokémon's Trick or Magic Room!" Before releasing Kyurem he approached the machine on the wall and turned on the system. "In here a Pokémon or trainer can't get actually hurt as long as the program is active, so danger is inexistent!"

Then he raised the Poké Ball into the air and watched as a body of light materialized in front of him.

"Alright Kyurem," said Colress as he grinned and his glasses reflected the light in a menacing manner. "Let's experiment." And as soon as the light faded Kyurem was along with him in the room.

* * *

Impatiently Hugh waited outside the Pokémon League for the celebrations to end. He remembered that the last time he came face to face with Nate was in Victory Road, at mere steps before the League. After another defeat at Nate's hands, Hugh decided to head out to Lacunosa Town in hopes of having enough money to buy a powerful TM or two, deciding that he would only try out the league himself once he had defeated his rival at least once.

And what happened after he went out the Pokémon Center after having bought the Fire Blast TM is history.

Point is, he waited for the fireworks to end, for Nate had won the Pokémon League. But after all that they had gone through, Hugh wasn't really surprised he did it. Since he couldn't enter the league, he could only sit back and wait until Nate came out.

And sure enough he walked out of the League, the ex-champion Iris trailing behind him.

"Thanks for the battle! I learned a lot more now." Said Iris as she waved away the champion from the entrance. "Now I know I have to train a lot more. See ya!"

Nate waved back as Iris returned to the League. Then he turned around, gave a long yawn, and walked back home. Or he would have, if a trainer hadn't got on his way.

"Nate!" Hugh shouted as he stopped Nate in his tracks and grabbed his shoulders. "You have to do something!"

Nate blinked confused and gave a step back. He raised his arms and gave a questioning look to Hugh.

"It's Team Plasma!" Said Hugh with a mix of anger and worry. "They captured Kyurem again!"

Nate opened his eyes wide in surprise and visibly trembled at this.

"I have no idea where they are," Hugh continued, "so I need you to help me find them!"

Nate considered the idea briefly before giving a thumps up along with a grin.

At this Hugh smirked and said "Good! Now, do you have any idea where to go?"

Nate closed his eyes in thought, and scratched his chin. After some seconds he opened his eyes and slammed his right fist into his hand. Hugh raised an eyebrow at this before Nate pulled out a Poké-Ball of his bag and released one of his Pokémon. Braviary gave a screech as he appeared in front of his trainer and Nate gave one slight pat on the bird before mounting on his back.

Seeing this Hugh swiftly reached for his own Poké Ball and released his Unfezant, after which he turned to Nate and said "Where are you going?"

In order to show him Nate grabbed something inside his bag and pulled out his Town Map device. Hugh neared his rival and watched as Nate pointed at a place in the map.

"The Giant Chasm?" Hugh asked. "You think Team Plasma returned there?"

Nate nodded and secured his grasp on his Braviary as it started lifting off.

Hugh jumped on his own bird as it began flapping its wings. "Sounds like a good place to start for me!"

Soon the two trainers lifted off and flied away from the League, heading east towards the chasm. However, between the shadows of the night, just next to where the two had stood mere seconds ago, Zoroark grumped annoyed at seeing the trainer he had been tasked with finding flying away from the League. Without further ado, Zoroark jumped out from the dark and followed the two flying kids as fast as he could.

* * *

Deep in a place unknown to anyone else outside of them, a man walked back and forth in front of a door. The place's walls and floor were made of black and green bricks, and the light was low, it was almost complete darkness. Another man approached the first man and asked "...Is he any better?"

The man stopped and looked at his partner before turning to the door. Nervous laughter that sometimes switched to mad cackling or complete silence could be heard from inside the room. "...Not yet..."

The second man turned to the door and then to to his companion, and asked "...How long do you think this will take?"

"...I have no idea." He first man said sincerely. "...I think this could last a long time..."

The second man gave a small sigh and walked away, again to mounting guard in front of the hideout's entrance. The first man returned to guarding to door, and kept hearing the laughter that switched to incoherent babbling and back to nervous giggling. The man sighed, just hearing what the man inside the room had been reduced to saddened him.

"**I KNOW!**"

The man outside the room jumped in surprise at the sudden scream. Soon the door was thrown open, and, already being in a pretty bad shape, it dislocated itself from the wall at the impact and felt to the floor.

The man that came from inside the room looked to be in a pretty bad state. His hair was a mess, and his black clothes were covered in dirt and dust thanks to his bed, in which he had stayed for over a day, was already pretty unclean before he had been put to rest there.

The first man gave a step back at the sight. The insane man rushed at him and grabbed him by the shirt collar with his left arm. "Do you remember him?!"

The man gave a confused look before saying, "...Sir, what are you t-"

"**DO YOU?!**" He shouted in a mix of anger and enthusiasm. He threw the man to the floor and walked away, heading outside the secret location. He kept giggling uncontrollably and his left eye twitched continuously. "Yes... Yes you do! How could you not?!"

Before he could proceed any further the second man from before blocked the exit of the room. "...Sir, you're not in the appropriate state to leave... Please return to your room."

"**SILENCE!**" He shouted, his eyes lighting up in rage. "I don't have time to waste!" He growled. "I know! **I KNOW!**"

The insane man tried to to force the second man out of his way, and with surprising force he managed to do it. But the man grabbed his shoulders in order to stop him. "Sir, jus-"

"**SHUT UP!**" He screamed. "You're an idiot! **YOU'RE ALL IDIOTS!**"

He tried to escape the man's grasp, and when he started succeeding the first man and a third one came to help hold the insane man.

"**I REMEMBER!**" He said between growls and laughter. "I remember him! And when I find him, Unova will pay!" He said before giving one long, maddening cackle.

Only the three men together were able to hold the man down until him no longer struggled. And while he was returned to his chamber by the Shadow Triad, Ghetsis Harmonia laughed maniacally at his newfound idea.

* * *

**AN: As I said before, I don't like this chapter, so I won't blame you if you didn't enjoy it either. Anyways, review if you please.**


	5. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: alright, first off, I'm really sorry about the fact I couldn't update this in time. These last two weeks I've been busier than ever, and in the case that wasn't enough I also suffered from a serious lack of inspiration.**

**I'm actually scared of the fact that this story could end up as something I don't enjoy doing. I was excited when I started, but lately I've feel so bored when trying to write this. But I won't give up, I started this whole mess and I gotta finish it!**

**Regardless, this chapter is done. Again I have to say I feel like this was rushed, even if I had double the time to write it down. Pesky final exams, eating up my time...**

**Also, I'm officially moving the update time to every two Sundays. If I'm gonna have so little time to do anything then there's not much I can do about it.**

* * *

Kyurem blinked rapidly, still not accustomed to the bright light that surrounded him every time he was sent out from his Master Ball. He examined the room he was now in. It wasn't very different from his previous room, but aside from the window in one wall there was a screen covering the opposing wall. Small tables with containers on them were scattered around the room. And in front of him was a familiar looking scientist.

Colress grinned at the dragon and clasped his hands merrily. "Greetings Kyurem. Are you ready to start?"

The ice dragon just stood there, his monstrous frame overshadowing the scientist. Kyurem considered his options.

Could he just kill him and escape the facility? He doubted it. After seeing for himself how unbreakable the previous room was, he suspected all test chambers were like so. So escape wasn't an option. At least for now.

He glared at the man in white. He hadn't been so close and personal with him before. They were pretty much next to each other right then. But the man didn't seem to mind.

Colress scratched his chin in wonder. "Now, where to start?" He studied the dragon's body, and eventually just raised his hand. "Well, we can always test!"

Colress brought his hand closer to Kyurem's head. The dragon gave one step back at the action and growled gutturally.

"Now, there's no need to fear! We can't create bonds of you act like that!" Colress said sincerely. "Now let me pet you."

Pet? This mere man wanted to pet him. He chuckled inwardly. He couldn't let himself be a part of such a humiliating action. Kyurem gave another step back and found himself against the wall. As the scientist drew closer Kyurem instinctively tried to attack.

But nothing happened. No icy wind, no glaciate, no outrage, Kyurem tried in vain to perform a known move.

Before he could realize it a hand rested on his head. Kyurem flinched. The hand began to rub the skin between his frozen pars of his face.

Kyurem just realized that was the first time in a while, no, a long time he had received human contact. Since the day he hid away in his chasm, he hadn't dared to interact, let alone get near, with anyone.

And now he felt as a human touched him. And it felt... Nice.

It felt warm, it reminded him of what he felt when he was one, when he was almost whole. A warm feeling that took away the eternal cold he always felt. He still wanted to stop this, for he basically was being petted like a Herdier. But such nice was the feeling that he couldn't care less.

"Now, do you like this?" Said Colress as he finished petting the dragon. "Tell me."

Kyurem couldn't help but give a small roar in response. He wanted more. The feeling of being touched, of feeling of warmness, made it seem as if he was whole again; it reminded him of the forgotten memories he had acquired in his times fused. Is as if those memories had come back, even if just for a moment. Sure, this feeling wasn't as strong as the one back then, but it was something.

Colress grinned at the action. "Marvelous! Then we're making progress." Without further ado Colress began to pet the dragon again, and this time Kyurem welcomed the action.

However, when he began to pet the frozen coat that covered Kyurem's face, his hand froze in place, covered in thin ice.

Kyurem gave a confused grunt. What happened? Did he just completely froze something just by mere contact? He knew he could freeze anything by will, but such a long time had passed since he had shared contact with anyone, that he had forgotten that a mere touch with his frozen coats was enough to solidify anything.

"I see." Noted Colress as he pulled his hand away from the dragon, and it instantly melted back to its normal state. "Good thing we found out your coat's freezing capabilities in this system!"

Kyurem tilted his head confused. Noticing the reaction, Colress said. "Ah yes, I suppose you don't know this yet." He turned around and reached for the machine he had used before, and pressed a couple of buttons. Suddenly the walls that covered the room changed dramatically. What was once plain white he transformed into a fabled landscape, with bright green grass and clouds and colorful rainbows adorning the 'sky'.

"Welcome to Pokémon-Amie!" Said Colress proudly. "A system created exclusively for raising the affection between a trainer and his Pokémon!" He suggested to the environment they were now in. "Capable of creating a digital ambient perfect for creating bonds, where trainer nor Pokémon can't suffer injuries!"

Kyurem looked around him, at the new environment. It was ridiculously cute, it felt like an overdose of sweetness.

"Now, let's get to the most important part!" Said Colress as he reached for one of the container on the tables. Kyurem spectated curiously, before the scientist pulled out a cupcake from said container. "Poké Puffs!" He said merrily.

Kyurem stared at the treat. It was a small cupcake with chocolate frost.

"Now, let's eat!" Said Colress as he neared the cupcake to Kyurem's face. The dragon gave one step back. Was this man going to feed him like a if he were a mere pet? Nonsense. That was ridiculous.

But Colress didn't cease; he kept leading the sweet towards the ice dragon. Kyurem turned his head away, refusing to be a part of this.

"Now, we don't have time for this!" Said Colress exasperatedly at the sight of Kyurem's uncooperation. "Sure you must be hungry. When was the last time you ate?"

Hearing this Kyurem realized that he, in fact, hadn't eaten anything since that wild Seel, and his stomach roared against his will.

"Ah ha!" Said Colress joyfully. "See? You have to eat!" He pulled the Poké Puff even closer to Kyurem's face. "Now open..."

Before Kyurem could do anything Colress pulled the cupcake back and scratched his chin in wonder. "Actually, something that I had wondered since I first examined you..." Colress studied the dragon's face. "Is your mouth closed shut? Because most of my colleagues seem to think so."

The dragon blinked at the scientist, before opening his mouth wide, expelling a cold breath that Colress couldn't feel thanks to the system they were in, and shattering part of the coat that covered most of his face. In actuality, Kyurem had always had difficulty to open his mouth. Since he could remember, it had been closed shut. But eventually his need for feeding made him break the frozen skin that covered his mouth, and since it froze back after a while, he had to break the ice over again every time he had to open his jaws. It hurt every time, but after a while he got used to it, and the pain was mostly ignored in each occasion.

Colress grinned in amazement as the ice skin's shards fell to the floor. "Fascinating! So you need to break your coat when you need to feed?" He put the cupcake over one of the tables in the room and swiftly reached for a notepad inside his lab coat began to write on its screen with a small acrylic pencil. "My, I'm forgetting to write information down lately."

Kyurem stared at the cupcake with his mouth wide open. If he closed it up it would freeze once again, and while opening didn't hurt as much as it would have back in the day, it still was a like an annoying itch. He grunted slightly to alert the scientist of his situation.

Colress turned away from his pad and stared at this dragon. He studied Kyurem with a straight face and finally said after a while "...I suppose having your mouth opens hurts?"

Kyurem grunted annoyed. Close enough, he supposed.

Colress grinned and put away the device inside his coat. "Then I have good news! These Poké Puffs are designed to be eaten regardless of if the Pokémon has or not a mouth to feed with." He reached for the sweet on the table and held it up. "In other words, you don't actually need to open up your jaws to eat this."

Kyurem shut his open jaws at hearing this. How convenient, he thought.

Colress carried the Poké Puff through the air towards the dragon. "Now, eat this. You'll be happier!"

Kyurem grudgingly compelled and tried to munch on the cupcake with his mouth closed. As awkward as it looked and felt, the Poké Puff began to be bitten by an unseen force, and Kyurem felt his hunger slightly dissipating.

Once Kyurem finished the cupcake there weren't even crumbs left. Kyurem couldn't help but give a small roar in delight. That little chocolate treat had actually tasted pretty delicious, but its incredibly small size had left him even more hungry.

Colress clasped his hands joyfully. "Marvelous! It pleases me that you're cooperating now!"

At this Colress searched for another Poké Puff. After that, in the span of less than two minutes Kyurem ate four more cupcakes. Once he finished his sixth, as small as those sweets were, he was full.

When Colress brought the seventh one the ice beast turned his head away, the smell merely sickening him thanks to a full belly. "Kyurem, please." Colress told the dragon. "We need to proceed!"

But Kyurem didn't comply. Before saying anything else Colress squinted his eyes suspiciously, and turned his head to the monitor in the room. He brightened up at seeing the 'Fullness' meter filled up.

"So that explains it." Colress commented. He turned to Kyurem and said "I suppose you've had enough Poké Puffs for now?"

At hearing this Kyurem turned back to the scientist and nodded.

"Then we shall start the next procedure!" Colress said joyfully. He returned the cupcake to its container and moved towards a different one. After he opened it he reached for something inside and soon pulled out two colorful balls of yarn. "Let's play!"

Kyurem tilted his head to the right.

* * *

As fast as it could run, it seemed it just couldn't catch up with the two trainers.

Not wanting to disappoint N, Zoroark accelerated its pace. Despite its muscles screaming for it to stop, the Pokémon wouldn't let itself fail.

But because its eyes focused on the trainers above in order to not lose track of them, Zoroark didn't saw a small hole on the way, and sure enough it tripped on it and fell rolling through the ground.

Zoroark hissed at the slight pain but swiftly got back to its feet. When it turned to look at the sky again, the two youngsters weren't in sight.

The illusion Pokémon gave a frustrated roar that resonated through Route 23.

* * *

The two bird Pokémon descended and safely landed on the ground. Hugh jumped off his Unfezant and looked around.

The Giant Chasm was completely covered in cold, solid ice.

Nate got off his Braviary and witnessed the landscape. True enough, the whole chasm was frozen; trees, grass and all of the ground was ice that reflected the morning's shine.

"I bet Team Plasma is behind this!" Hugh said decidedly and turned to Nate. "But they don't see to be here..."

Nate scratched his chin in though and looked around. He noticed something that wasn't covered in ice, namely, an exit. At noticing this he instantly turned around and saw another hole in the chasm's walls. What he didn't know was which one led to outside the chasm and which one led to Kyurem's chamber.

Nate pointed to the entrance nearest to them. Hugh turned to look at where Nate was pointing and noticed the hole. Curious he asked "What's with the cave?"

Nate then turned to point at the opposite entrance. Hugh followed and began to wonder. "Do you think... Plasma can be in one of those caves?"

Nate nodded at Hugh and with gestures motioned him to go to one of the caves. Hugh turned confused between both holes and finally asked "Do you want us... To split up?"

Nate nodded again and swiftly returned Braviary to his Poké Ball. Hugh did the same with his Unfezant and said. "Got it! I'll go this way!"

Hugh instantly set to run to the nearest cave, while Nate set off to the other one.

* * *

Nate entered the cavern and looked around him. Water drops fell from stalactites on the ceiling, and silhouettes of wild Pokémon moved between the shadows.

He saw a giant staircase leading to an upper level of the cave. Supposing he was in the chasm entrance, Nate walked up the staircase and began to search for anything Plasma-related.

* * *

Hugh walked inside the cave and looked around the place. He saw a couple of small ponds but other than that the room seemed empty. However, there was another entrance at the other side of the room, and without thinking twice Hugh walked towards it.

The other room didn't show much else. At first glance it seemed like a long corridor of rocks. But as Hugh kept walking through it, he began to felt the temperature dropping.

The trainer wrapped himself in his arms and trembled from the cold. It seemed eerily familiar to what he had felt last night at Lacunosa Town. Curious, he kept going, and eventually found himself at the end of the corridor, a small circular room with crystals scattered around it.

Hugh looked around in hopes to find anything. He searched the corners of the room, near the crystals and even used his dowsing machine, but he didn't find anything.

He gave a deep sigh before staring at the room's ceiling. Various stalactites were scattered around it, leading water to fall down as little drops, but what interested him the most was thegaping hole on the ceiling.

Hugh neared the hole and looked up from under it. He saw the orange sky and the white clouds of the morning. He followed the light down all the way down to the floor, and only then he noticed something in the middle of the room.

Hugh gave a confused grunt before bending over to grab the mysterious object. It had the form of a pyramid cone, and it was colored with stripes of black, white and gray, with a yellow spike at the end.

Not recognizing the object, Hugh stood up and began walking away from to place back to the chasm. On the way he reached for the Xtransceiver on his wrist and called his fellow trainer.

"Hey, Nate?" Hugh said through the device. "I think I found something."

* * *

This was humiliating. And, as he would never admit, surprisingly fun.

Kyurem swiftly bounced back another ball of yarn, and another, and another, and as much as the scientist intended to throw at him.

Colress didn't seem to be tired in the slightest. He threw back the balls as soon as they came to him in quick succession. The man sped up the pace and said "Remember not to miss any!"

The dragon grunted but hit the yarn balls with his head, moving around in an attempt to not miss any as they were thrown in different directions. Eventually the dragon couldn't catch up and a couple of balls felt to the floor.

Colress stopped his movement and clutched the balls of yarn he had, returning them to its container. "Well, I'd say that's enough!" The scientist told Kyurem. The dragon gave a slight frustrated roar and turned away from the man.

Colress looked around the floor for the two missed yarn balls. He noticed them at the opposite side of the room and said "Kyurem, would you be kind enough to bring me those balls of yarn?"

Kyurem ignored the man and grunted. He had no reason whatsoever to do so, he though.

Colress turned to the dragon with disapproving eyes. "Now, what did I told you about being uncooperative?"

But Kyurem just kept looking away from the man, not intending to help him. He wasn't his pet.

Colress gave a frustrated sigh at seeing his work not giving results. He closed his eyes in though and wondered at what to do. Maybe he needed to give more from his part? Reluctantly Colress turned back to the dragon and hesitantly said. "...Please?"

Kyurem turned back to the scientist. The two individuals shared eye contact for a few seconds.

Kyurem frowned, wondering what to do. Well, even if he was in captivity, these recent moments he had shared with this man had been... Surprisingly pleasant. And humiliating, but pleasant nonetheless.

Kyurem gave a guttural sigh and he walked towards the balls of yarn. Not feeling like opening up his mouth to do so, the dragon simply moved the balls with slight pokes of his head. Eventually he pushed them close enough to the scientist and gave a step back.

Colress grinned at the action and bent down to grab the balls. He stood up and returned them back to their container. "Good job, Kyurem!" The man said before turning around to face the dragon. "Now, would you like some Poké Puffs?"

Kyurem didn't protest, and instead gave a small roar to accept the proposition.

* * *

From outside the chamber Plasma's scientists spectated the whole ordeal. Some stared in wonder, curious if Colress actions could actually help their research, while others, convinced that the whole 'show love and respect' method was ridiculous, just sat on their desks and browsed the web.

Dudley glared at his computer. He saw his Porygon 2 floating inside his monitor, interacting with the icons in the screen. The scientist turned away from his computer to the test chamber, were Colress was feeding Kyurem Poké Puffs.

Dudley gave a frustrated sigh. He felt ashamed. Ashamed that he had done what Colress was doing now. Playing Pokémon-Amie, bonding with his Pokémon. He scoffed. It sounded just plain stupid.

Not that he didn't love his Pokémon, of course. But he could even begin to grasp the fact that the way to make a Pokémon stronger, to bring out his full potential, was by 'showing it love and respect'.

Dudley frowned. He knew there was a better way, a 'scientific' way. As Colress himself had admitted, showing it love and care wasn't an exact and precise method. And as time passed, Dudley couldn't help remembering the Genesect project.

It was the only way Dudley could think of. Artificially altering a Pokémon to forcefully bring out his full potential was an, no, the most exact and precise method there could be. And, he realized, nobody had proven him wrong on his theory yet.

N had cancelled the project in his desire to help Pokémon. But Dudley frowned at the irony. Had N not stopped him, he would have helped the Pokémon more than N ever could, he would have made it stronger than anything else on the planet, able to defend itself from anything at anytime and anyplace. But now it had disappeared, freed into the wild by the man that was supposed to lead Team Plasma to finally achieving their goals, freed away from the safety of science.

N had disappeared, but then there was Colress. The man was convinced that Dudley's method was wrong, and yet he didn't have any verifiable proof that he was right. All this managed was angering Dudley more. Was Colress so self absorbed that he couldn't accept others ideas.

But before saying anything else he turned to face the test chamber again. On the contrary, he though, Colress would do anything if it meant furthering his research. And yet he refused to even try Dudley's method...

The scientist didn't think twice and reached for the drives that were hidden in his desk's cabinets. He stood up, and as he headed outside the laboratories the man had only one idea in mind: reviving the Genesect project, and finishing what he had started at any cost.

* * *

"Stanley?! **NO!** It wasn't... I remember! Yes! Donald!?... **NO!**"

He sighed, leaning on the repaired door. He was confused alright, moments ago the man had stayed in his bed, immobile as a vegetable, and then he had entered a sudden outburst. But now? Now he was in his bed, muttering nonsense all over again.

"...What should we do?"

Schatten turned to face his fellow Shadow Triad member. The man glared at his partner and he considered an answer. "...I don't know..." He finally said.

Umbra stared at the other man and turned away from him. The two Shadow Triad members stayed in silence, like they use to be.

"I say... That we should fulfill Ghetsis wish..."

Umbra and Schatten turned to look at the third Shadow Triad member, who was standing at the room's entrance.

"...What do you mean by that?" Schatten said.

"...He's trying to remember someone..." Kage told his fellow men. "...I think we all know who it is..."

"...The kid who defeated him..." Umbra concluded. "...but how can we be sure..."

"...Regardless of who it is, I say we should find this kid..." Kage continued. "...and avenge Ghetsis."

"...I agree." Schatten told them. "...But where could he be?"

"...I don't know, and neither do you." Kage said. "We must be patient... And wait for him..."

"He doesn't know we're here..." Umbra told him. "He doesn't even know this hideout exists..."

"...Which is why we must go outside..." Kage finally said.

"...But Ghetsis..."

"And now I ask..." Kage interrupted Umbra. "...Do any of you want to stay here and look out for Ghetsis?"

"...We can't do that..." Schatten said. "If we want to avenge him we must face them together... Only then we can win..."

Kage sighed. "...Very well..." He said. "...Make sure the door is locked... We're heading out now..."

Kage walked out from the room, followed by Umbra. The Shadow Triad member stopped at the entrance and turned to face his partner. "...Do you have the key?"

"...Yes..." Said Schatten as he locked the door. He put away the key in his pocket and turned to Umbra. "...Let's go..."

"...I'm not sure about this..." Umbra said. "...We must take care of Ghetsis..."

"...We're going to help him..." Schatten said as he walked past Umbra. "You can stay if you want... But I'm not going to let the kid who made this to Ghetsis get his way..."

Schatten walked out from the room, leaving Umbra alone. The man gave one last glance at Ghetsis' door before hearing more of his gibberish.

"Donate?!" Ghetsis said from inside his chamber. "**NO!** Who is it?!"

Umbra sighed before saying "...Don't worry my master... Soon you won't have to worry about him..." Then he walked out from the room after the other Shadow Triad members.

The only thing left on the hideout was Ghetsis, locked in his room.

"Dennis?!" He shouted. "**NO!** No is not..."

Just then the door of his room began to shake noticeably.

"Doodle?!"

The door began to broke as something smashed against it repeatedly.

"Doodlein?!"

The door started breaking itself apart from the wall, struggling not to let itself be forcibly opened.

"**...DUDLEY!**"

The door turned to wooden rubble as Ghetsis emerged through it. The man fell to the floor, injured by his actions, but swiftly got to his feet.

His only visible eye flared in anger and excitement. "I remember now!" He told himself. "**DUDLEY!**" He gave a dark chuckle at his discovery.

The man began to walk, his weak legs struggling to carry him, and his black clothes were ragged and covered by dirt. He explored the hideout in search for something, and sure enough he eventually found his Poké Balls.

Ghetsis laughed as he grabbed his Pokémon one by one and put them away inside his robes. He looked around the room were he was now in. It seemed to be some kind of storage room, filled with items and such. But none of this mattered to him, as the man had only one objective in mind.

He stormed through the room, looking inside every crate and box, in every table and cabinet. And when the room could be only described as a mess, he found it.

Ghetsis giggled nervously as he grabbed his cane. He leaned on it, finally able to walk more easily and rushed out form the hideout.

"I remember you... Dudley!" Ghetsis told himself as he neared the exit. "And I remember... Yes! I remember!"

Unable to contain himself, Ghetsis gave a deranged cackle that resonated through the underground location.

"**...GENESECT!**"

* * *

**AN: Oh my, what's gonna happen next?**

**I Dunno, really.**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed reading this mess and review if you please.**


	6. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: All of you are probably wondering why I didn't update yesterday as planned. Well... after I finished doing my last tests I decided to take a small vacation. Yet for some random reason, the internet of where I was staying decided to not work while I was there. So I had to wait until I got back home to upload this. And just now I came back.**

**So, yeah. Sorry for that.**

**Anyways, this chapter ended up shorter than usual. I think I spent all my inspiration on the first fragment (which is actually quite long on its own) and then felt too lazy to try to write much more. Oh well.**

* * *

"I think this has gone on for too long."

Kyurem couldn't help but give a disappointed grunt. He saw as Colress returned the rest of the Poké Puffs to its container, and walked towards the device on the wall.

"We've getting distracted from the main objective here!" Colress announced as he turned off the Pokémon-Amie system. "It's time to test out our theory!"

Kyurem tilted his head to the right in wonder as the cutesy background and tables with containers on them disappeared as the holograms they were. The room was now back to its plain white self.

Colress grinned in excitement as he approached the dragon. "Now we'll find out if our efforts give results!" He reached for a Poké Ball inside his coat and held it in the air. "Tell me Kyurem... Are you ready for a Pokémon battle?"

Kyurem glared at the scientist before giving an eager roar. A battle was just what he needed, he thought. A way to remind everyone that he was not a pet or a lab rat, but a legend.

"Then let's test!" Said Colress as he freed his Klinklang. The Pokémon floated high lightly above the ground between the man and the dragon. Colress gave some steps back to give space for the incoming battle. "Your goal is simple," Colress continued, "defeat this Klinklang!"

Kyurem gave a cry as he turned to the Pokémon. He saw the steel-type mon quickly spin its gears, making small sparks emerge from it.

Kyurem considered his options. He didn't knew any move that could swiftly defeat this Pokémon, so he would have to use brute force to beat it. The dragon gave a roar as he ran towards the gear Pokémon, intending to defeat it with an Outrage.

Klinklang finished its Gear Grind just before being hit by the rushing ice beast. Unable to move out of the way in time, the steel-type tanked the attack.

Kyurem gave a step back, trying to shake off his slight dizziness. Klinklang moved away from the dragon and with a cry divided itself into its various gears. The metals flew straight at the dragon and in quick succession began to strike it constantly.

Kyurem roared in pain as the super effective Gear Grind chipped away his health. Eventually the gears returned to its owner and soon Klinklang was whole again.

Kyurem just gave a deep growl as he glared at the opposing Pokémon. Letting his anger go, Kyurem ran towards the mass of gears again, continuing his Outrage.

But Klinklang was faster, and the steel-type rushed away from the incoming dragon. Ramming past it, Kyurem tried to turn away, but ended up crashing into the wall. The chamber's unbreakable material just made the collision hurt more.

The dragon gave a couple of steps back, the confusion of the Outrage setting in. Behind him Klinklang was spinning up its gears, and it began to rush at the dragon, consumed by electricity.

Kyurem was too confused to evade the incoming Wild Charge, and the gear Pokémon rammed into him. Kyurem couldn't help but roar as he felt his strength leave him. The dragon felt to the ground, unable to battle more.

From the back of the room Colress frowned. "That was disappointingly underwhelming. Now come." The scientist held Klinklang's and Kyurem respective Poké Balls in the air and returned the Pokémon to them.

Colress exited the room through the main door and called out to the scientists "Heal the Pokémon, we must continue testing!"

"Sire, may I say something?"

Colress turned to the man who called him. "Yes, what is it?"

The scientist that said his name scratched the back of his head as he thought up an answer. "Aren't you... Well, shouldn't you show the affection for the Pokémon... In the battle too?"

Colress frowned. "Explain."

"Well, I..." The scientist continued. "I think that you shouldn't just let your Pokémon fight each other..." He gulped, trying to find the right words. "I think, for a Pokémon to... "link" itself with its trainer, they need to trust each other. You must... Tell it what to do to succeed, and the victories resulting from said orders lead to trust."

Colress glared at the scientist and considered his answer. He turned to his Poké Balls, and then back to the man. "What's your name?"

"N-Nathan, sire." Said the scientist reluctantly.

"Well Nathan, I have to say..." Colress told the man as he stepped near him. Nathan gulped as Colress stood next to him. "...than that's a marvelous comment!"

"R-really?"

"Of course!" Colress said merrily, slapping his hand on his forehead. "I added the love but didn't include the trust! That's the missing part of the equation!" Colress handed the two balls to Nathan. "Now, can you heal them back?"

"S-Sure thing, sire!" The man said as he grabbed the Poké Balls and ran towards the laboratories' healing station.

Colress watched after the scientist before a small figure jumped in front of him. Rotom bounced excited in an attempt to catch its trainer's attention.

Colress stared down at his Pokémon. "What's the problem?"

The plasma Pokémon gave a giggle before trying to cuddle with his trainer. Colress again pushed the Pokémon back. "Rotom, I don't have time for this. I need to continue working!"

But this time Rotom didn't just leave his side. The electric ghost looked up at his trainer with watered eyes, and started to cry. But its cries sounded exactly like high-pitched static, and the scientists in the labs covered their ears in an attempt to block the noise.

Colress sighed at his Pokémon sudden outburst. "Rotom, just-"

But his voice didn't make it past the shrilling screech, and Rotom continued its broken cry.

Colress tried to think between the noise. What should he do? Was this all just because it wanted a hug? Such a spoiled mon, he thought. He was not going to help such attitude bloom.

Colress reached for a Poké Ball inside his coat. "Alright Rotom!" he said loudly. "Back to y-!"

But before the scientist could attempt anything the plasma Pokémon blasted away from him. It flew to the nearest computers and entered one. Its screen flashed uncontrollably before Rotom emerged from the computer and flew to another one, repeating the process on various PCs, all the time continuing its shrilling cry.

Colress sighed at his Pokémon's behavior. Right then Nathan came back with his Poké Balls in hand. Colress eagerly received the balls, and his fellow scientist instantly covered his ears by the noise.

"Sire! What's that?!"

"It's just Rotom!" Colress tried to tell the man. "Take care of it, I have tests to continue!" The scientist put the balls inside his coat and proceeded to walk towards the previously used test chamber.

"B-But sire!" Said Nathan as he jumped in front of Colress. "You have to do something about this! Rotom is not our Pokémon! We can't do anything!"

Colress rolled his eyes at hearing this and turned back to the flashing computers. He didn't think that he could bring Rotom back to its ball if it was dedicated to zapping around the room like that. He scratched his chin, trying to find a reliable solution to such a problem. But it seemed there was only one answer to this.

Defeated, Colress sighed before shouting "Alright Rotom, you win!"

Instantly after saying that the plasma Pokémon rocketed at its trainer. It clashed into Colress, and the recoil sent the trainer and Pokémon alike falling to the ground. Colress grunted as he massaged the back of his head, and noticed his Pokémon sitting on his chest, smirking at him.

Affection was such a confusing concept. While Pokémon-Amie had given him a exact way to measure it, it still wasn't something that Colress could fully understand. At the end, it was not an exact science, and that has always brought headaches to the scientist.

Colress got to his feet and tried to clean the dust out of his coat. Rotom bounced around his feet in excitement, and Colress "I suppose that you want to spend time with me?"

Rotom nodded with a cry.

Colress closed his eyes in thought. He needed to continue testing as soon as possible, but he couldn't afford Rotom reentering its despaired state. As the gears of his head shifted, a idea sparked in his mind.

"Tell me Rotom," Colress asked his companion, "would you like to participate in a Pokémon battle?"

The plasma Pokémon looked up at its trainer in wonder, before nodding eagerly. Colress smiled; what a perfect way to eliminate two Pidove with one Rock Slide.

"Say Nathan," Colress said as he turned to the scientist in question. "Did you by any chance see what moves Kyurem knows while you were back there?"

Nathan staggered briefly before saying "N-No sire, I didn't. Forgive me."

"Oh don't worry!" Colress commented with a wave of his hand. "If you healed Kyurem with our system then its data should have been registered too!" He turned to the scientists that were working on the computers. "Search the profile for Kyurem."

The men in coats nodded and did as commanded. They swiftly pressed their keyboards until one of them finally said "Here it is, sire." He turned the monitor around so Colress could get a good view of what was onscreen.

"I see." Colress said as he studied the list of known moves. "Not much in the way of variety, unfortunately." Eventually Colress turned away from the computer and referred to his Pokémon. "So Rotom, are you ready?"

The electric ghost gave a excited cry and jumped after Colress. The man entered the test chamber once again and closed the door after him, once inside he held Kyurem's ball in the air and freed the dragon.

Kyurem blinked rapidly at being free once again. He turned around and saw Colress standing not very far from him.

"Greetings once again, Kyurem!" Colress told the ice dragon as he clasped his hands merrily. "Now, don't worry about last time, this time I'll tell you what to do."

Kyurem noticeably scoffed at this. Tell him what to do? He knew how to battle on his own, he didn't need someone ordering him around to be efficient in battle.

"Not to mention, this time you'll be fighting someone else." Colress added as he motioned to his Rotom, who was floating at the other side of the room.

Kyurem turned to the plasma Pokémon, and Rotom waved at him in return. He gave a disappointed sigh; he didn't have time to waste on this little thing, he needed to get revenge on the Klinklang that humiliated him in battle.

"Now tell me Kyurem, are you ready?" Colress asked eagerly. Before Kyurem could do anything the man said "Now fight!"

At the other side of the test chamber Rotom gave an excited cry before bolting towards the dragon. Kyurem jumped out of the way before Rotom drastically changed direction and zapped around the room.

"Kyurem!" Shouted Colress from the back of the room. "Use Scary Face."

Kyurem chuckled inwardly. Nonsense, he didn't need a strategy; such a small and insignificant foe should perish after one simple Outrage. Ignoring the scientist, the dragon rushed at the plasma Pokémon.

"Kyurem!" Colress said alarmingly. "Stop now!"

As Kyurem tried to ram into Rotom, the electric ghost swiftly evaded the incoming attack, and once again the dragon was sent ramming into the nearest wall.

Colress rolled his eyes at the ice dragon's stubbornness. "Kyurem, listen!" Shouted Colress at the dragon who was leaning confused on the chamber's wall. "He's too fast for you! Use Scary Face!"

Kyurem snapped out of his confusion and turned to look at the scientist. He glared at him, and Colress glared back. Kyurem grunted defeated and got back to his feet. It was either following the man's orders or losing once again; in other words, it was either eating up his pride or being humiliated by a lesser being like last time.

Grudgingly Kyurem nodded at the man and turned towards Rotom as the plasma Pokémon blowed a raspberry at the dragon from its side of the chamber.

Kyurem frowned before performing the move. His eyes lighted up with a red shine, and he opened his mouth to complete the illusion, the ice coat's broken borders giving a menacing image.

Rotom opened his eyes wide and staggered in place, clearly startled by the move. Sure enough it didn't attempt to move, and Colress smirked at seeing this. "Now Kyurem, use Outrage!"

Kyurem grinned, as much as a ice dragon could. But before he could attempt anything, Rotom launched an attack at him. Specifically, a Will-o-Wisp.

The balls of fire shoot themselves in a direct trajectory towards the dragon as he was starting his Outrage. Kyurem grunted annoyed as the flames took effect and gave him a burn, but nevertheless starting his move.

Colress frowned annoyed. "Wait, Kyurem! Stop!" Shouted the scientist exasperatedly.

Kyurem reluctantly stopped in his tracks. He turned back to the man with a confused yet annoyed glare.

"Your physical attack drops when you're burned!" Colress told the dragon. "If you're burned, Rotom will survive the Outrage and have a chance to strike back as you're confused!"

Kyurem stared at the man before signing and returning his focus to the battle. He was the one with a lab coat, after all.

Colress grinned at seeing his commands be fulfilled. "Use Dragon Pulse!" He shouted to the ice beast.

Kyurem gave a slight nod at this and focused his energy. Sure enough a beam of light emerged from the dragon's closed mouth. And it shoot right at the plasma Pokémon.

Having been slowed down, Rotom didn't have time to evade the attack or use one of its own. Sure enough the electric ghost gave a cry as the pulse hit it, and was sent backwards into the nearest wall.

Rotom hit the hard surface and bounced back towards the floor. It fell face first into the chamber's ground, and gave one last dizzy look at its opponent before fainting.

Seeing this, Kyurem roared in victory. Finally, something went his way, something went right since he was defeated at the chasm, since the last good thing he could remember was being whole again.

And right then, Kyurem opened his eyes wide. He realized that he had forgotten his mission; be whole again. And it wasn't hard to see why. The time he spend playing and eating with the man inside this chamber, and the battles that ensued not much after, had made him forget he had a goal in the first place.

Kyurem gave a step back in confusion. That mission was the reason he had ended here in the first place. He didn't have time to fight lesser mons, he didn't have time to eat sweets along a simple man, he didn't have time for any of this.

He needed to return to his journey. All of this had been no more than a waste of bis precious time; all because of a mere human's curiosity.

Although he had to admit to himself, he had had a very good time while in the chamber. Eating some delicious cupcakes wasn't a bad thing, and sure enough, these silly games had been pretty fun.

And he had been able to experience a battle again, and not one random encounter with some trainer; he had been lead to victory by another being, and unlike the time he had been controlled, this time he had won. This time he had a choice about what to do; and yet he had done as ordered.

And it felt... Good.

Was this feeling why Pokémon let themselves be ordered around by humans? The feeling of trust, of achieving victory, of winning a battle because of them, because they knew what they were doing. Of putting yourself in somebody's control and becoming much more thanks to them.

It was a warm feeling... Almost as warm as the one he felt when he had been fused.

From behind him Colress applauded merrily. "Marvelous! That was a magnificent demonstration of teamwork, Kyurem! You did well."

The dragon turned to look at the scientist and gave a low cry. Yep, it felt good being complimented too.

"Now let's heal you two back..." said the man as he reached for Kyurem and Rotom's Poké Balls inside his coat. "...and then we can spend some in Pokémon-Amie!"

Kyurem didn't object, instead giving a pleased roar.

* * *

"This is what I found."

Hugh handed the mysterious object to Nate, and the trainer examined it curiously. He gave a slight gasp once he recognized the thing.

"What's wrong?" Asked Hugh preoccupied. "Do you know what it is?"

Nate nodded and reached for one of his Poké Balls inside his bag. He released Braviary once agin and jumped on its back.

Hugh instantly reached for his own Poké Ball at seeing this and released his own bird. Unfezant gave a cry as he appeared in front of its trainer and Hugh swiftly jumped on his Pokémon back. He secured his hold on the bird and turned to his partner. "Where are we going now?"

Nate put away the DNA Splicers inside his back before turning to look at his fellow trainer. Not feeling like reaching for his map as his Bravery began to lift off, Nate rapidly said "Opelucid City."

Hugh tilted his head confused before Nate's Braviary took flight. Sure enough his Unfezant followed them, and soon both the trainers were sailing the skies again, leaving the frozen chasm behing.

* * *

In the light of the dawn, Zoroark couldn't find them. It jumped over tress and turned to look at the sky at every chance, yet it seemed the trainers had decided to vanish from existence.

It gave a frustrated growl; it had no way to find them again, and it could afford returning to N with empty hands.

And right then, as if by sheer magic, Zoroark ears rose at the sound of flapping. It turned to look at the heavens once again, and sure enough the trainers had reappeared flying between the clouds.

Zoroark smirked before resuming chase. It was not going to lose them again.

* * *

**AU: I need to find a way to be obsessed with writing this again. Lately I've been finding myself playing too much Omega Ruby (damn you Maxie, why do I like scientists so much) and I've also been trying out the competitive side of Pokémon.**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this thing I put together. Review if you please.**


	7. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: Alright, here it is. I don't have much to say about this one, only that maybe it ended up too short for my liking. Oh well.**

**I think this is other of those 'set up for future events' chapters. A rather short one though...**

**I've been WAY too lazy these last days. The fact that lately I've managed to sleep more than 6 hours each night has somehow made me less active than before. Huh.**

* * *

Up in the skies a ship sailed across the clouds.

At the Plasma Frigate's control room, the team's scientists piloted the airship through the sky. They didn't have a set route; Colress just had told them to remain airborne as long as possible without being detected.

The main door slid open and all the present scientists turned to the entrance. There stood a familiar man in glasses. "I come with Colress' orders!" Said Dudley.

The main pilot raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Really? Colress sent you? Why don't tell us himself through the frigate's network?"

Dudley scratched the back of his head as he thought of an excuse. "He's... Testing at the labs. And I didn't have anything to do so I asked him if I could come tell you..."

The Plasma pilot squinted his eyes in suspicion. "Very well. What are the orders?"

Dudley neared the scientists while adjusting his glasses. "Colress wishes to land the ship at the only remaining base we have: the P2 Laboratory, at Route 17. As soon as possible.

The pilot nodded and turned around on his chair toward his monitor. "Where are we currently located?" He asked his fellow men.

"Approximately 10000 feet above Route 5, sire." One scientist said at checking his own computer.

"Set direction south, 30 degrees east." The pilot instructed. "And raise speed to 120 Km/h. Close veils to begin descent and lower speed at approximately 5 kilometers from our destination."

A monotonous and conjoined cry of "Yes sir." notified of the scientists' agreement. Soon enough the frigate's movement changed to match that of the one commanded by the main pilot, and in matter of seconds the ship was on its way to Route 17.

The change in movement wasn't detected by Colress, who continued submerged in his research.

After a extended period of Pokémon-Amie, Kyurem' affection meter was almost maxed out. Sure enough, the dragon seemed much more affectionate now.

Affectionate enough to just sit down and listen to Colress during his lunch break.

"It was fascinating, I tell you!" The scientist said excitedly. "The mere concept of 'Mega Evolution' had always been something I have wanted to research!"

Kyurem listened attentively at Colress' rant. While the man had a tendency to speak of complex and technical concepts he could comprehend or even care about, sometimes he talked about slightly interesting stuff.

Colress raised towards his mouth another unit of the unknown food (which apparently was called 'Rice Rolls' or something of the like) and ate it up in one bite. He munched merrily until he swallowed the food and continued talking. "Shame I only heard of the concept after I started my research in Plasma here! Maybe after I'm done testing with you we can travel to Kalos."

Kyurem couldn't help but raise his head in curiosity. Did he say 'we'? Was he talking about his Pokémon... Or about him?

Colress bit on another 'Rice Roll' before reaching for a bag on the small table next to him and turning to Kyurem, holding a familiar object in the air. "Here, keep eating these. We need to restore your EVs before we can start training on that!"

Kyurem tilted his head, confused at the concept of 'EVs', but happily nodded before Colress threw the Grepa Berry at the dragon, who swiftly opened his jaws to eat the incoming berry and promptly closed them after.

Meanwhile Rotom happily bounced around the chamber while munching on a berry. Once finished the Plasma Pokémon sapped back to his trainer and gave a demanding cry.

Colress slightly frowned at this. "Rotom, I think you have eaten enough for now."

Rotom grumped annoyed before bolting away from the scientist. Colress rolled his eyes before turning back to Kyurem. "Tell me, Kyurem. Are you excited?"

Kyurem tilted his head confused.

Colress chuckled to himself. "I personally can't wait to continue testing! In just a few hours we have advanced a lot! All the factors will soon come together!"

Colress stood up and walked around the room, scratching his chin in wonder. Kyurem just followed the scientist with his gaze.

"After we're done with Pokémon-Amie we can continue with Super Training! And then we'd have to level you up as much as possible! Shame we can't alter your IVs, though..." Before continuing Colress turned to Kyurem with a curious glare. "I wonder what type your Hidden Power belongs to."

Colress reached for a small headset on his right ear. "Show me the data about Kyurem's IVs."

Soon enough the screen, which at the moment showed Kyurem's EVs, changed to one displaying the IVs. Colress analyzed the present digits, doing the calculus in his head. "I see... Your Hidden Power would be Fire!" Concluded the scientist with excitement as he clasped his hands together.

Kyurem continued staring at Colress with confusion. Sure enough he had no idea about what he was talking about.

Colress glared at the screen before turning to the dragon with a smirk. "Tell me Kyurem, after we're done with the training... Would you like a rematch with Klinklang?"

The midday sun flared down on Opelucid City. Miners all around the city continued working in exterminating the ice that covered most of the city, as said ice was too strong to be broken down by conventional means.

At the central plaza a certain gym leader directed the workers. "Finish off cleaning the citizens' homes before moving on to the 3rd street. Ignore the gym; the people come first." Told Drayden to his fellow men.

"Of course sir." Answered the miner with a salute before taking off to the working site.

Drayden stared after the man before giving a sight. Even if they managed to clean off the city, he didn't know if Team Plasma was really gone. Sure, he had received news that someone had defeated them but... If Plasma managed to rise after a first defeat, they could as well do it again.

Drayden walked towards his home before giving a last look behind. It was only a matter of time before his city was repaired, just some more time...

However, before Drayden could enter his house he heard the flapping of two flying-type Pokémon. He stared upward, curious about the noise's origin, and noticed two trainers descending from the skies towards him. Drayden gave one step back before the Pokémon landed in front of him.

Nate jumped off from his Braviary and swiftly returned it to its Poké Ball, Hugh following suit. Drayden grinned at recognizing the trainer.

The two youngsters approached the gym leader, who welcomed them with open arms. "Ah, I was hoping to meet you again. Nate, isn't?"

Said trainer nodded in return.

"Good. Iris told me that a certain someone managed to beat the Pokémon League." He said before patting Nate on the back affectionately. "Congratulations, Champion Nate!"

Nate scratched the back of his head and blushed slightly as he grinned.

From behind them Hugh grumped. "Yeah, that's great and everything, but we are in the middle of something serious."

Drayden raised an eyebrow is curiosity. "Really? What is the problem?"

Hugh turned to Nate with a confused glare. "First off: Nate, why are we here?"

The trainer stared at his partner before his eyes lighted up at a certain memory. He reached for an object in his bag and showed it to Drayden.

The gym leader gave a slight gasp at the sight. "The DNA Splicers... You got them back..."

Nate nodded before extending his hand to the gym leader. Drayden admired the object before shaking his head and pushing the DNA Splicers away. "Don't return them to me; keep them."

Nate couldn't help with tilt his head confused.

"It was you who defeated Team Plasma, wasn't it?" Drayden asked the trainer, but continued before he could answer. "I'm sure you could care of this object better than I ever could."

Nate blinked before turning his head to the DNA Splicers, and back to Drayden. Eventually he sighed and returned the item to his bag, before nodding with a smile at Drayden.

Drayden grinned inwardly before turning to Hugh. "Was that the problem, boy?"

Hugh stared at the gym leader before tuning to Nate. The trainer looked at Hugh before giving a nod. Supposing he got the right message, Hugh took a small breath before saying. "The thing is... Team Plasma is back, and they captured Kyurem again."

Drayden visibly paled at the words. He turned around, growling inwardly as he tightened his fists. "I knew Plasma wasn't down..."

"We looked for them at the Giant Chasm, but we just found these DNA things." Hugh continued. "I don't know where to go now, though."

Drayden stayed in silence before turning back to the trainers. "Wasn't there a faction of Team Plasma who reformed?"

Nate and Hugh stared in wonder at the leader. "Yeah, I think they were at Driftveil City." Said Hugh. "Do you think they..."

"These Plasma people don't have anyplace to go now." Continued Drayden. "I know they have a flying airship, but they can't stay afloat forever. Searching them through the skies is a futile task; you won't find ever find them in the massive air space."

Hugh tried to put together the ideas. "So they eventually must land somewhere, and if they're not at the chasm then..."

"Ask the reformed Plasmas for a location." Drayden instructed. "Their old castle has been destroyed. If they have other bases in the region they will go there."

Hugh grinned at they idea. "Of course! That's brilliant!" Was all he said before he reached for his Poké Ball and freed his Unfezant.

Drayden turned at Nate before saying. "Look at Opelucid, boy. Don't let Plasma repeat this catastrophe."

Nate nodded before promptly reaching for his Poké Ball and freeing his Braviary. He jumped on it before turning one last time to the gym leader.

Drayden gave a hearty smile at the champion before saying "Don't be too reckless out there. Good luck."

Nate smiled and gave a thumps up before his Pokémon took flight. Soon enough the trainer was in the sky flying after Hugh.

At the ground Drayden stared at the trainers before they were out of sight. The gym leader turned around , only to find a certain someone at his home entrance.

"Iris?" Drayden asked in confusion. "What are you doing-?"

"I just wanted to talk with you, silly!" Iris said merrily. "Just converse and stuff." She grinned before staring at the leader. "You want to go, don't you?"

Drayden blinked before saying. "I suppose you heard the whole conversation?"

"Most of it." Iris admitted. "But the point is that I think you should go with them."

Drayden dismissed the idea with a frown. "Of course not; I need to look after the city. I can't-"

"Don't worry, I'll just set someone to do that!" Iris said with a grin. "I think you have worked too much here at the city. You need to go out there, catch some warm air, and teach those Plasmas another good lesson!"

Drayden stared at his former apprentice before closing his eyes in thought. It had been some time since he had done some fieldwork. But maybe he needed to take matters into his own hands for a moment.

Eventually Drayden opened his eyes and smiled at the former champion. "Many thanks, Iris."

Iris happily grinned in return. "No problem, sir!"

Drayden reached for one of his Poké Balls before freeing his Flygon. The earth dragon gave a cry before laying on the ground in order to let the leader mount him.

Once on his Pokémon back Drayden turned one last time to his apprentice. "Who are you going to put in my place?"

Iris scratched her chin in wonder before waving a hand to the leader. "Don't worry yourself with that, I'll call someone!"

Drayden sighed before his dragon began lifting off. "Tell my workers I'll be out for a while! Make sure they keep working before my substitute comes!"

Iris nodded in return as the gym leader ascended towards the heavens. Once Drayden was fat enough the former champion ran away from the house and outside the city. Once in the wilderness Iris ran between the bushes and looked upward at the sky, following Drayden's Flygon.

As the girl dashed past the trees, a bright light engulfed her, and soon where once ran a human a Zoroark gave pursuit.

It was a surprisingly clear sky that day at Icirrus City. And yet, nobody saw the shadow that materialized over one of the city's hills.

Umbra looked around him in search of the face of the trainer. Stealthily he jumped between the city shadows, peeking through the windows of each house in the vicinity.

It took a while, but eventually the Shadow Triad member concluded the trainer wasn't in that city. Umbra sighed as he reached for a device on his pocket. "Umbra here... No sight in Icirrus City..."

"...Kage here... Move on to the next location." Said a voice through the device.

"Umbra here... Understood." The shadow member answered before returning the device to where he had saved it.

Before continuing Umbra sat down on the ground and stared upward towards the sky. He hoped Ghetsis was safe back at the hideout. As much as he wanted to avenge him, he would prefer making sure he wasn't captured.

In his studying of the heavens Umbra noticed two birds moving quickly through the sky.

"...Huh, I didn't know trainers traveled in pairs..." Umbra told himself.

What caught his attention, however, was the Flygon that flew past after the two trainers. While Umbra raised an eyebrow at the sight, what really sold it was the flash of black that sped past him seconds after the dragon. Umbra looked after the being and noticed it was a Zoroark.

"Alright..." Umbra thought out loud. "...I'm interested now."

* * *

**AU: Oh my, stuff happens. Call the police.**

**It's gonna be hard to keep writing after I found that old 'Dark Souls' game between my PS3 stuff. Then I remember that I got frustrated after like the second level and stopped playing about one year ago because the thing was just too damn hard. Now I'm playing it again and I can't stop. Send help.**


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